Questions tagged [safety]
Questions that discuss about precautions need to be taken for ensuring the safety in various outdoor activities that are in scope of The Great Outdoors should be tagged with this tag.
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What is the life expectancy of Propane/CO detector?
NOTE the following is while the camper is unoccupied and stored in my back yard.
The Propane/CO detector in my camper started going off randomly a few weeks ago. I thought it was from some random ...
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When did wearing a helmet become the norm for climbing?
This is going out primarily to those who have been climbing for 20yrs +
Back in the day, helmet use was optional and not particularly popular.
These days, things seemed to have taken a dramatic change....
user16414
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Portable canopy leg weights, how heavy?
I was at an event this weekend and noticed that many of the portable canopies had weights on the legs.
My Canopy has stakes and rope tie downs, but often the soil is not appropriate for these (to ...
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Is it dangerous to go to Mountains when snow is melting?
This year beginning of May 2018 we with my friend visited Valle Grande in Italian Alps. Begging from 1500 meters there was snow, on the high of 1900m there was pretty deep snow and it was actively ...
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Bivouac on glacier: how to be sure not to stand on a crevasse?
When there is no snow cover on the glacier and crevasses are visible, no need to really worry about crevasses.
But what about when there is a layer of snow on top of glacier, hiding crevasses, and you ...
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What species of bear are most and least dangerous to humans?
Excluding hybrids it seems like there are eight species of bears.
Which are most and least likely to injure or kill a human?
Related Do black, brown/grizzly or polar bears ever prey on humans?
...
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How to deal with changing clothing which was used while cooking as not to attract a bears?
It is said you not only need to keep food at least 30-100 meters away from the tent, which is easy do to, but you also can't sleep in the same clothing which was worn while eating, which can be very ...
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If you are canoeing on a lake when whitecaps start happening, what is the best direction to get off the lake?
If you are canoeing on a lake and the wind suddenly starts blowing to the point where there are whitecaps, what is the best direction to head to get off the lake?
Would it be the shortest way back to ...
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What is a 'Whitecap' and why should I be concerned about boating in them?
I heard someone talking about whitecaps and how they could be dangerous for boating but I am not sure I understand, what they were talking about.
What are whitecaps and why should I be concerned ...
- 30.2k
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Beginning paddle boating
Assume I am completely naïve of boating concerns, that I know the following:
There are things that float and carry stuff across the water called boats.
A boat needs something to make it move. Some ...
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Is there a good way to be kept up-to-date with climbing gear recalls?
In the last years, there were a few occasions when companies would put out recalls on their climbing gear due to manufacturing defects. For example, Black Diamond recalled some improperly riveted ...
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How sophisticated a dust mask can one hope to improvise?
A common improvised dust mask is taking a bandana and tying it over your nose and mouth. I'm asking this question because I'm wondering what else one could add to this set up if anything. First, I'd ...
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Are there any natural materials found in the wild that can be used as an effective sunscreen?
There are animals such as pigs and elephants that wallow in mud which possibly serves as protection from sunburn. There are also some plants such as Aloe vera (Aloe vera) and Jewelweed (Impatiens ...
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how high does a fence need to be to prevent European brown bear to climb it?
An entrepreneur is planning a campsite-hotel in Romania, with a full outdoor gourmet restaurant attached, with an outdoor kitchen. There will be no cabins or other living structures, only tents and ...
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Will the Trailhead Registry burn in a forest fire?
I posted an answer for a recent question about a forest fire that started after your hike began, that said:
Presumably you registered at the trailhead, and you have a friend who knows where you are....
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What to do if you are above timberline and your descent is cut off by a large forest fire?
The situation: you are backpacking and are above timberline. Streams are ubiquitous, you are well equipped so exposure is not a problem, the entire party is uninjured and healthy. But a large, ...
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Relative risks of various outdoor activities?
I got into a 'discussion' with the vice principal of the school I work at. He was worried about the dangers inherent in our fairly extensive outdoor program.
I pointed out to him that an analysis of ...
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Is there any evidence that black bears (or other large predators) are indifferent to, or acutally repulsed by, the scent of humans?
I am hoping for more than anecdotal evidence about the negative effects on black bears of the human scent -- ranging from meh to Yecch.
This question is prompted by two anecdotes I have to offer: (...
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Emergency use hydration products - effectivness vs cost
My medical kit already has some MRE style clean water bags, purification tablets, as well as OTC anti-diarrheal pills at the ready. However, now, I am researching what options there are for hydration ...
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Is clipping onto the rungs of a via ferrata bad practice?
I did my first via ferrata this weekend and noticed there were often long vertical distances separating the cable anchors. At times this length was around 10m. This meant that a fall before reaching ...
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Titanium Carabiner: what is its ideal use case?
I have the specs of a pretty interesting carabiner. It's made from titanium, it's lightweight and strong. These seem to be great attributes, but there are two caveats.
It is pretty expensive ($50). ...
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Does body need to re-acclimatize after a few days out of altitude?
We will be in Peru visiting Machu Pichu (altitude 7,972 ft or 2,430 m). Then we'll go down to the jungle (essentially sea level) for 4 days and then to Cuzco (altitude 11,152 feet or 3,399 meters). ...
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Under what conditions does heating a tent artificially make objective sense?
My question is motivated by the earlier question How To Quickly Warm A Tent, which generated a lot of interest, and one of the best comments ever on TGO:
All I could think about after reading your ...
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How dangerous is a swarm of bees?
Sometimes, bees will split from a hive, and a bunch of them (including a new queen bee) will swarm, and move to build a new hive.
As you can see, there is an awful lot of bees huddled together around ...
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What are the pros and cons of introducing new safety colors for hunting?
As indicated in Have there been any studies done on how fluorescent pink compares to fluorescent orange?, fluorescent pink is becoming accepted as a new safety color for hunting. Given that we have a ...
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Have there been any studies done on how fluorescent pink compares to fluorescent orange?
It's extremely common to mandate that rifle hunters in the United States wear fluorescent orange, some states are now changing the laws to also allow fluorescent pink.
The article (April 3, 2018) I ...
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Are elk and deer colorblind to blaze orange/pink clothes?
During rifle season, hunters are required to wear blaze orange (some states also allow bright pink).
I have heard that deer and elk are color blind to blaze orange, is there scientific evidence to ...
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How fast does a climbing rope recover its dynamic properties after a fall?
The defining feature of a climbing rope (arguably) is its dynamic properties, i.e. it stops your fall gradually to decrease the peak force. Not exceeding a fixed peak force is a/the integral criterion ...
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How to secure wild Red Eared turtle eggs from predators?
We have a wild Red Eared turtle laying eggs in our yard. What can we do to keep animals from getting to their eggs?
We had a turtle to lay eggs about two weeks ago and the next morning, something had ...
user12179
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Can I use ear plugs while ascending or descending a mountain?
Can I use ear plugs to block out noise or will my ears need to pop because of the altitude? I don’t want to get sick by using the ear plugs.
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Can I use SteriGENE broad spectrum disinfectant on abseil rope?
I work in ecologically sensitive areas in NZ and my ropes routinely get soiled. I have been asked by the Dept of Conservation to clean and disinfect my ropes to minimise the chances of accidentally ...
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How can I guess if an outdoor expanse contains flammable gas?
As someone who frequents valleys, I was unhinged to learn of Dax Cowart's calamity beneath.
What types of alfresco terrain ought I most beware? It obviously can happen only in small hollows in the ...
user9750
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Why is a Reverso not useful when belaying a first that's crossing a Bergschrund?
I started reading Petzl's tech tips for mountaineering. While on the section for Crossing a Bergschrund, specifically in the part for Belaying a leader we have the following warning:
Warning: the ...
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How dangerous is it to rummage the ground in the mountains of Nevada desert with venomous creatures out there?
I made plans to do some hiking in the mountains of Nevada this weekend. I'll have someone there nearby and a hospital is an hour drive away. We thought it would be fun to uncover rocks and even dig ...
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Is a helmet more important for a belayer or a climber?
Given:
- A single pitch climb
- Top roping only, belayed from below
- Limited number of helmets (assume only 1 for a climber/belayer pair)
Is it more important for the belayer to be protected from ...
- 2,430
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How to deal with keeping a first aid kit inside a hot car?
Excluding parking the car in the shade or carrying the kit in person, what are some solutions to handle emergency car kits in the heat?
I am aware
medications, ointments, creams, adhesives are the ...
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How do I safely move around Canada Geese?
I live in an area with a lot of lakes/ponds, with many paths around them. Many humans and dogs enjoy walking on these paths. However, the Canada geese have recently set up shop on the lakes. They don'...
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Are there reusable inflatable life vests (or PFDs)?
Inflatable life vests and PFDs that I have seen so far are meant to be inflated in emergency (either by mouth or CO2 cartridge). I didn't use them myself but they don't look like they could be ...
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What is the proper way to ford a shallow body of water in a back country situation?
I was reading about off-roading just now, in particular best practices for conservation and safety, and I ended up on the Wikipedia page for fording. But that page deals mostly with either natural ...
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How are canvas tents made to be fire retardant?
While reading through this question about adding a stove jack to a canvas tent originally lacking one, I wondered about the feasibility of making an existing canvas tent fire retardant. Is it simply a ...
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What's the proper way to establish a triaxial connection with carabiners?
I love free climbing but have never climbed with ropes. While reading through this question, I realized I would never have thought of these scenarios, but due to the answers on that post, the physics ...
- 1,886
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Is it possible to acclimatize to a cold weather in a short time?
On some of my Himalayan treks I've seen people who wear shorts or wear single layer of clothing and shiver due to the cold weather (most of these people live in a tropical climate). When I've asked ...
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How dangerous are alligators to people canoeing?
Inspired by this question, how dangerous are alligators to people out canoeing in say the Everglades in Florida?
I am sure there is some danger because from time time you here about people winning ...
- 69.1k
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Are rolling snow pieces a sign of increased avalanche danger?
In spring conditions it often happens that the upper layer of snow warms up and small pieces of it roll down leaving traces behind them.
Like in this picture I have found in the Internet:
Given ...
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Alligator free Mangrove or Cypress swamps in the US?
I often see Mangrove and Cypress swamps on T.V. and I think it might be fun to explore one in a canoe. My wife thinks we might get eaten by Alligators if we try it. I have no knowledge about ...
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Resources for camping in Georgia (country)
Is there any resource provided by the Georgian government or by any other agencies about the camping in Georgia? I would like to know about the rules and safety aspects.
Any resource on these would ...
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What skills should one learn before attempting paragliding?
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of
flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider
aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a
...
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Is it feasible that a black bear could kill a man with a single swat?
A recent post said:
a black bear can kill a man (or a dog) with a single swat of its paw.
I suppose anything is possible. But is it realistic? Has it ever happened?
Googling 'man killed by ...
- 30.2k
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What are the steps you would go through to teach someone how to split logs?
A recent power failure made firewood one of the four most important things in our lives for nearly three days. We had enough in our pile of cut up fallen branches and small logs to keep our cat warm ...
- 22.8k
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How to mitigate injury when falling into a crevasse?
I've imagined this scenario many times: you break through a snow bridge and fall into a hidden crevasse, how should you react? The fear is, if you're wearing crampons, your foot may snag the ice ...
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