Outdoor Shane 
The joke that was already decades old by the time I hit my early camping years in the late 1980s/early 1990s was when it doubt, use “Scout Water” to get that fire going. Scout Water was, of course, gasoline, and yeah, that’s one way to start a bon fire. But is it really a safe …
Starting a fire with gasoline…it’s a life choice we don’t recommend. Obvious safety concerns aside, is it actually legal, though? This is a question that is generally fairly easy to answer but there are some important considerations to get the answer you want. Generally it is not illegal to start a fire with gasoline, assuming …
We already looked at whether or not you can safely use expired bear spray, but that’s not the only safety question that focuses around bear spray and its use. Since this aerosol is used to chase off even the biggest of bears, could it actually kill a person? While very painful, bear spray cannot kill …
If you live in North America there aren’t too many spiders that worry you. The United States isn’t Australia, which means even the “most dangerous” spiders in North America won’t make a blip on the radar as the more exotic spiders in areas like the Land Down Under. The brown recluse spider has a reputation …
Having spent many many months of my life camping when temperatures decided to slam into the mid to high 90’s, camping in hot weather is no stranger to me. Add in daily hikes in Austin Texas for two years where the mercury could climb into the triple digits pretty easily (and early) in summer and …
There are many flammable liquids out there that can be highly flammable. Whether or not they should be used to start a fire is another story completely. Vegetable oil is a classic example of a liquid that can go up in flames, but can you start a fire with it? Should you? Vegetable oil should …
There’s a reason that rattlesnake bites are taken so seriously. While very few people in the United States die from a snake bite that is due far more to amazing advancements in medicine and the habit of quickly and fully treating snake bite victims as quickly as possible as opposed to snake bites not being …
The copperhead is one of the more interesting venomous snakes in the United States, and one that comes with a lot of questions. One of the major questions is just how dangerous are they? And unfortunately, that is a rather complicated question. Copperheads are quite dangerous as they are responsible for the far majority of …
There are many different beliefs when it comes to treating a venomous snake bite. The problem is when it comes to first aid I don’t want belief, I want accurate information and training on how to treat an injury or try to save a life. Unfortunately there are many harmful myths that exist around how …
One of the most important things you can do when hiking bear country is to be prepared and be aware. While the overwhelming majority of bears don’t want anything to do with people, there are bear attack incidents every year. Understanding how to handle yourself if you’re in this unlucky situation can be the difference …
