The Great Outdoors Stack Exchange
The Great Outdoors Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
28
votes
8 answers

Is it possible to hike over 30km per day?

I am planning to go on a trail (Cleveland Way trail in the UK, moderate level, if this helps). The official guide recommends spending 9 days on this trail, but I only have 7 days. Is it reasonable to walk ~30-35 km/day for the first two days and…
hp257
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7 answers

How likely are you to be injured by falling shot from a game shoot?

One of my regular trail running routes goes past a pheasant shoot. The route is on a public footpath and the shooting is usually from the woods nearby towards the direction of the path (ascertained by the fact the path is lined with people and dogs…
Darren
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7 answers

Why is there such a singular place for bird watching?

There are a lot of interesting things in nature, but of all land vertebrates, birding has highly disproportionate attention. People (perhaps including birding enthusiasts) may note and appreciate mammals they see, and reptiles, but birding stands on…
Christos Hayward
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28
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6 answers

Most practical knots for hitching a line to an object while keeping the bitter end as tight as possible, without sag?

Say, I want to tie a rope between two trees, and I want it to have as little sag as possible. I have attached the rope to one tree and I'm trying to tie it to the other tree while pulling it to create tension and remove sag. All the hitch knots that…
Andrey Mikhaylov - lolmaus
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4 answers

What is the point of belay glasses?

I was going through the REI website for some of the products and I stumbled upon this one here. It's called Y & Y VERTICAL Classic Belay Glasses The product punchline says: Stop wrenching your neck to keep an eye on your climber. The Y & Y Vertical…
WedaPashi
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28
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4 answers

Could a tick make several test bites in a circle?

I got my first tick bite recently, on the top of my foot. The tick was latched on. There was a circle of small dots around the tick and a slightly bigger red area close by. They were all there from the beginning. Could those be test bites before the…
Elsie
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6 answers

When buying a backpack, what should I pay attention to?

I know one can compare backpacks by the following: Content (in liters) Number of external pockets (for quick accessable water bottles for example) Hip belt available or not Waterproof / Water resistant / not But I'm probably missing a lot of other…
Jasper
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28
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5 answers

Are there any techniques for starting and maintaining a fire in snow?

What are the techniques for starting and maintaining a fire in a survival situation when snow is present? I would like to know if there are any known techniques for starting and maintaining a fire in the wild for survival reasons when there is snow…
Ken Graham
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2 answers

Is whiskey a good disinfectant?

You see this a lot on films, the hero/heroine is injured and disinfects their wound(s) by pouring whiskey on it. I'm a bit sceptical. If I'm in an emergency scenario and need to prevent infection. Would pouring drinking alcohol on help? Just to…
user2766
28
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2 answers

Possible diet to avoid/delay defecation

We plan to go on a three day hike (two nights). The amount of food is no problem of course, but we want to avoid defecation while on the trail. Which kind of food comes into question? Edit: It's really not a "health issue" or something to "hold it…
OddDeer
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3 answers

What's the problem with burying toilet paper?

In the backcountry, we should bury solid human waste (i.e. poop), and we are told to carry out toilet paper. According to this answer on tissues, for some kinds of waste the ecological impact is small, but we should still leave no trace for social…
gerrit
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28
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2 answers

In a survival situation, should I drink unpurified water?

If I am in a survival situation, is there any reason I shouldn't drink the available water? I am aware of Giardia and cholera. Are these worthy concerns, or are there good enough cures available that they can be outruled? I know that giardiasis and…
That One Actor
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2 answers

How to calculate backpacking food requirements for a dog

So I know how to calculate how many additional calories a day I need while backpacking. My question is how do I calculate how much food my dog will need while backpacking. I'm hoping for a general equation based on how much a dog eats in a regular…
Justin C
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28
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3 answers

Hiking boots vs trail shoes

I have two sets of shoes that I wear while hiking. My favorite by far are my light weight trail running shoes. I have worn them on 9 mile hikes without any break-in, and went blister free. From a comfort perspective they are simply amazing. I also…
Timothy Strimple
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2 answers

How to Shoo away a stubborn Stray Dog/Dogs who decides to tag along with you on a hike?

This happened on one of my hikes. It was a hike with two villages en route. Somehow a dog from the first village decided to stick with us. We were OK with it. Then he was followed by a small Puppy. Now we tried to shoo them away but they still…
Captain
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