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1500 questions
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Legality of "semi-permanent" wooden structures in state and national forests in the US

Imagine the following situation: A group of friends found a remote spot in a state or national forest that they really like. They keep returning to the place quite often, lately there are at least some members of the group staying overnight at the…
Jan Hlavacek
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How does weather affect an altimeter watch?

I really love wearing an altimeter watch while in the mountains. I know that it's affected by weather, but unfortunately I don't actually know how it is affected. This usually causes me to ignore the altitude readings entirely when the weather is…
Felix
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How does the Esbit stove perform in cold & wind?

I was on a group trip this weekend where a fellow hiker brought an Esbit stove which uses hexamine fuel tabs. The temperature was not what I would consider extreme. Temperatures in the high 30s to low 40s Fahrenheit (3 to 7 Celcius) with high wind…
Russell Steen
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To locals without a tide chart, how surprising are tides?

People have put a lot of work into predicting tides. To a local, who knows the conditions of a certain area, are tide tables really necessary? How surprising are the tides ever going to be to someone who's been sailing the same bay for decades?
Joe
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Mountaineering / glacial traverse: rope-up or go it alone?

When crossing a glacier (or other mountaineering activity for that matter) I've heard that roping everyone together without having a fixed anchor is falling out of fashion since more often than not if someone takes a tumble into a crevasse then end…
Lost
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Left-Handed Helical Fletching

When you are fletching your arrows does a lefty shoot with a left helix in their fletching or is it still at a right helix? The reason I ask is the most common fletching tools are to give a right helix.
J Lundberg
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What equipment is needed for glacier hiking?

What is the exact equipment I need for walking safely on glaciers? The route I will be taking is the Hvannadalshnukur ascend from the ring road and same path descend. From what I could find out the path is not challenging gradient is constant and…
mega_creamery
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What do life jacket ratings mean (Type I, Type II, etc)?

Looking at flotation devices (life jackets) they are rated Type I, Type II, etc. What do these rankings mean and what type should I by?
Russell Steen
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Is there a general rule for climbing runout grading?

Climbing route grades in Yosemite Decimal System can be suffixed with an "R" to notify a runout. The Wikipedia entry for a runout is A lengthy distance between two points of protection which in some, but not all, cases might be perceived as…
Chris Mendez
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What happens when someone dies on Mount Everest?

I have read that Rob Hall's body (who died very near the summit in 1996) was discovered. However I have not seen any validation of that. I just watched the movie Everest and I'm curious. Has it been confirmed that his body has been found? When…
toing_toing
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Deer activity in the wet

Over the years, when out walking and on my commute through the countryside I've noticed that, when it's intensely pouring with rain, Roe deer seems to come out of the forests into open fields to eat. I would have thought being out in the rain would…
Aravona
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How can I tell what time it is without a watch?

Assuming I don't have a watch or other time-telling device with me in the wilderness, is there a way to know what time it is? I don't necessarily want to know the exact minute of the day, but a general idea of how many hours are left until sunset…
jeffreywrichards
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Why are eye friction hitches not commonly used in rock climbing?

It seems that the majority of professional arborists favor friction hitches that are tied with a free cord rather than a loop: Blake's Hitch Schwabisch Distel Valdotain Tresse This is often tied using an eye to eye hitch cord like this: This is a…
Mr.Wizard
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How do you treat frozen lungs?

You know that bleeding lung feeling you get after going out for a long run on a freezing cold night? The one where you can taste blood in the back of your jaw, and begin to wheeze and cough as fluids start forming in your lungs? Whatever the…
ShemSeger
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As Mountaineers what can we give back to Mountains?

Might not be a real question for The Great Outdoors.SE, but definitely a real question in our lives, at least mine. I understand, agree and believe in Leave No Trace philosophy. But, when we take countless memories and pride in climbing mountains,…
WedaPashi
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