220 Fun Facts About Camping

A classic s'more sandwiches a toasted marshmallow and chocolate between what?

The name is a contraction of 'some more', which had fully taken over by the end of the 1930s.

A 1927 cookbook from which youth organization contained an early 'Some More' recipe?

A Connecticut newspaper had already described Girl Scouts eating 'Some-mores' two years earlier, in 1925.

On which date does the United States mark National S'mores Day?

It lands squarely in peak campfire season, which is no accident.

Recreational camping is usually traced to Thomas Hiram Holding, a Briton who worked as what?

His book Cycle and Camp in Connemara led to the Association of Cycle Campers, the first camping group, in 1901.

Possibly the world's first commercial camping ground, Cunningham's camp, opened in 1894 on which island?

It sat near Douglas and predated the Association of Cycle Campers' own first site at Weybridge by twelve years.

Which founder of a youth movement became president of the UK's National Camping Club in 1919?

The club had absorbed the Association of Cycle Campers in 1910.

US camping is often traced to W. H. H. Murray's 1869 book on camp life in which region?

The book set off such a rush of visitors that they were nicknamed 'Murray's Fools'.

Ford, Edison, Burroughs and Firestone popularized US camping under what group nickname?

Their well-publicized road trips made car camping look like something a millionaire might choose to do.

Which country enshrines a right of public access to privately held wilderness in its constitution?

The allemansratten lets you pitch a tent on uncultivated land for a night or two without asking.

Under Norway's freedom-to-roam rules, how long may you camp on uncultivated land without the owner's permission?

The limit does not apply in the mountains or far from settlements, where you can linger longer.

Which 2003 Act gave Scots a broad right of access to the countryside, far wider than in England and Wales?

In Scotland you can camp on most unenclosed land whether it is state or privately owned.

'Glamping' is a portmanteau of camping and which word?

The word first appeared in the UK in 2005 and made the Oxford English Dictionary in 2016.

The 1520 Field of the Cloth of Gold summit featured around how many tents and marquees?

Some of the tents came with fountains that flowed with wine, which makes modern glamping look restrained.

Which outdoor brand began in 1902 selling gasoline pressure lamps in Wichita, Kansas?

During World War II it developed the compact multi-fuel Model 520, the original 'G.I. Pocket Stove'.

Kampgrounds of America was founded in 1962 in which city?

The first KOA site charged $1.75 a night, and by 1972 there were 600 franchise campgrounds.

Karl Elsener began manufacturing knives for the Swiss Army in 1891 from a business in which Swiss town?

That business became Victorinox; American soldiers coined the phrase 'Swiss Army knife' after World War II because they could not pronounce Offiziersmesser.

Guinness recognizes a 1991 Swiss Army-style knife by Hans Meister as the world's largest penknife. How many blades does it have?

It weighs about 11 pounds, so it is not going in anyone's pocket.

The 'Euklisia Rug', a sleeping-bag ancestor patented in 1876, was made by a mail-order pioneer from where?

Pryce Pryce-Jones of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, exported it worldwide, and its name is Greek for 'good sleeping-place'.

A sleeping bag that tapers from the head to the foot to cut volume and hold heat is named after what?

Most have a drawstring with a cord lock at the head so warm air cannot escape.

Compared with synthetic fill, down in a sleeping bag is which of the following?

Synthetic fill wins in the wet: it barely absorbs water and still gives some warmth when soaked through.

A pup tent, meant for one to three people, is a small version of which basic design?

It is meant for one to three people, with a rectangular floor and very little headroom.

The Sibley design, with a circular floor and a single central pole, is another name for which shelter?

The conical bell design goes back to around AD 600, long before Henry Sibley put his name to it.

The word 'hammock' reached English via Spanish from a word in which language?

Columbus recorded islanders paddling out to trade cotton and 'hamacas, or nets, in which they sleep'.

Which nation's navy formally adopted hammocks in 1597?

The Royal Navy's sailors slept in them on cramped gun decks for centuries afterwards.

The word 'bivouac' is French but ultimately comes from an 18th-century usage in which language?

The clipped form 'bivvy' spread through troops of the British Empire.

Which agency developed the metallized 'space blanket' in 1964?

The thin plastic film reflects up to 97 percent of radiated heat, which is why marathon finishers get wrapped in them.

The insect repellent DEET was developed in 1944 for which organization?

Samuel Gertler of the US Department of Agriculture created it; civilians could buy it from 1957.

Which Scottish scientist invented the vacuum flask in 1892 but never patented it?

Two German glassblowers turned it into the Thermos in 1904, and he later lost a court case to their company.

Which knot is nicknamed the 'king of knots' and taught with a rhyme about a rabbit, a hole and a tree?

It appears in John Smith's 1627 Sea Grammar as the 'Boling knot', and something like it was found in the rigging of Khufu's solar ship.

Which campfire lay stacks kindling around tinder the way you would build a frontier house?

Analysis of burned antelope bones in Swartkrans, South Africa, suggests hominins were building campfires roughly 1.6 million years ago.

In bear country, how far apart should food store, campfire and tent be placed, in a triangle?

If a bear charges, the advice is to hold your ground, because most charges are bluffs.

Which bear species is considered the most dangerous to humans, best met with a large-calibre firearm?

The recommended defense against it is a large-calibre firearm rather than spray.

The Leave No Trace framework used by campers is organized into how many principles?

The non-profit Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, formed in 1994 and based in Boulder, Colorado, set them out.

The Ten Essentials list first appeared in print in the 1974 third edition of which book?

The current list runs navigation, headlamp, sun protection, first aid, knife, fire, shelter, extra food, extra water and extra clothes.

Smokey Bear's slogan was changed in April 2001 to say 'Only you can prevent' what?

The change was made to cover blazes in grasslands too; the campaign has run since 1944 and is America's longest public service ad effort.

The bear cub who became the living Smokey was rescued after a 1950 wildfire in which state?

He lived at the National Zoo in Washington for 26 years and got so much mail that the Postal Service gave him his own ZIP code, 20252.

Which US president signed the law creating Yellowstone, the world's first national park, in 1872?

About 96 percent of the park lies in Wyoming, with slivers in Montana and Idaho.

Theodore Roosevelt camped near Yosemite's Glacier Point in 1903 with which naturalist?

The trip helped persuade Roosevelt to move Yosemite Valley from state to federal control in 1906.

Which president signed the 1864 Yosemite Grant, the first federal land set aside for preservation?

Yosemite did not become a national park until 1890, and Half Dome rises about 4,800 feet above the valley floor.

Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act creating the National Park Service in which year?

Stephen Mather became its first director, and by the 2020s the agency looked after more than 400 units.

The Appalachian Trail runs from Springer Mountain in Georgia to which peak in Maine?

Roughly 3,000 people a year attempt a thru-hike of the nearly 2,200 miles, and about a quarter make it.

How many US states does the Appalachian Trail pass through?

It was proposed by Benton MacKaye in 1921, finished in 1937, and has more than 250 shelters and campsites along it.

Where in Poole Harbour did Baden-Powell hold his experimental first Scout camp in 1907?

Scouting for Boys followed in 1908, published in six fortnightly parts.

Juliette Gordon Low founded America's best-known girls' scouting movement in 1912 in which city?

The famous cookie sales began just five years later, in 1917.

William D. Boyce founded the Boy Scouts of America after an unknown Scout guided him through fog in which city?

The boy refused a tip, saying he was only doing his daily good turn; the organization began doing business as Scouting America in 2025.

Which place calls itself 'the RV Capital of the World'?

The first 'one box' camper van seen in real numbers was the Volkswagen Kombi of 1950.

Apollo 11, 12 and 14 astronauts were quarantined in a modified trailer from which brand?

Of the more than 400 travel-trailer builders operating in 1936, it was the only one to survive the Depression.

Winnebago Industries was founded in 1958 in Forest City in which state?

Founder John K. Hanson named it after the county, and the first motorhome rolled off the line in 1966.

Which company patented the 1950s extrusion process that gives marshmallows their cylinder shape?

The word marshmallow comes from Althaea officinalis, a wetland plant whose root the ancient Egyptians used to soothe sore throats.

Which river is credited with first popularising camping in the UK, tied to Victorian pleasure boating?

By the 1880s large numbers of visitors took part in the pastime along the river.

Holding's book about a cycling and camping tour of which Irish region led to the first camping club in 1901?

Cycle and Camp in Connemara led to the Association of Cycle Campers.

In which Surrey town did the Association of Cycle Campers open its first camping site in 1906?

By then the organisation had several hundred members.

In what year was the International Federation of Camping Clubs founded?

National clubs from many countries affiliated with the FICC.

At which famous air show do people often camp in small tents under their aircraft's wing?

Camping is popular at air shows generally, but Oshkosh is the classic example.

What is 'workamping'?

Workampers may earn discounts on fees, utilities, or even some pay.

Which French region was the most popular for camping in 2015?

The Vendée is the department with the most campsites.

Where was the first campground established in a Canadian national park, in 1964?

Before the 1910s, camping in Canada was reserved only for men.

Roughly how many caravan and camping trips did Australians take in the record year ending 2019?

Commercial parks accounted for 52% of those trips.

What kind of purification tablets does the camping survival-kit list recommend for water?

The kit also includes a metal container, duct tape and a space blanket.

Which activity combines running with camping?

Camping is also often combined with canoeing, kayaking, climbing and fishing.

Which c. 1962 Phil Ochs album is named as camping-themed music?

Many films and other media have also focused on camping.

What material did the Roman Army use for its tents?

Modern re-enactors have successfully used copies of them.

According to Genesis 4:20, who was 'the first to live in tents and raise sheep and goats'?

Tents were used at least as far back as the early Iron Age.

What does the military shelter acronym TEMPER stand for?

The US Army also uses the DRASH collapsible tent.

About how much warmer than outside is the interior of an enclosed tent, not counting wind chill?

The warmth comes from retained body heat and, to a lesser extent, radiation.

Tent rain resistance is measured as 'hydrostatic head' in which unit?

A rating of 1000 mm or less is best regarded as merely shower resistant.

Expedition tents intended for extreme conditions are often rated at what hydrostatic head?

Groundsheets may be rated for 5000 mm or more.

What is the floorless covered area outside a tent entrance, used to store boots and packs, called?

It is often used for cooking or cleaning gear rather than doing so inside.

A sewn-in groundsheet that extends about 15 cm up the tent walls is known as what arrangement?

It copes with water seeping under the side walls.

Which of these dome-derived tents adds extra criss-crossing poles for snow and strong wind?

To resist wind they are rarely more than 120 or 150 cm high.

What Anglo-Saxon conical tent was used in the 9th to 13th centuries?

The Kohte is a German Scout tent based on Sámi designs.

Which Inuit conical tent design shares its shape with the tipi?

The chum is the Siberian equivalent.

Which US airport is cited as an example of tent-style tensile architecture?

The Munich Olympic Stadium and The O2 are also cited.

The Sámi Parliament of Norway's design is inspired by which traditional tent?

The lavvu is traditionally used by the Sámi people.

Which Indian ethnic tent, used for weddings and parties, dates to the Mughal era?

Its side walls are detachable and it is often multicoloured.

What was traditionally used to power the ropes hauling circus tent canvas into place?

Today cranes do the job.

Which Belgian entertainment tent is decorated with mirrors and stained glass?

It is constructed in wood and canvas.

Which women's-only peace camp was set up outside a US airbase in Newbury, England?

It protested the deployment of cruise missiles during the Cold War.

Which shelter is described as an emergency Alpine bivouac?

The Gotthard is a Swiss tent used at high altitudes.

Which European standard, introduced in 2005, normalised sleeping-bag temperature ratings?

ISO 23537-1 replaced it in October 2016.

Which US retailer began requiring American makers to follow the EN 13537 sleeping-bag standard in 2010?

The requirement started in March 2010.

The name 'Euklisia Rug' comes from Ancient Greek words meaning 'well' and what?

Pryce-Jones exported the bag around the world in the late 19th century.

Whose 1992 book, PCT Hiker's Handbook, popularised ultralight backpacking?

Jardine was an American rock climber.

What is 'cold soaking' in backpacking?

It is done to avoid carrying the weight of a stove.

In backpacking, what does 'base weight' exclude?

It is the loaded pack weight at the start of a trip.

Who conceived the Pacific Crest Trail in 1932?

It gained official status under the National Trails System Act of 1968.

Which point, at 13,153 feet, is the highest on the Pacific Crest Trail?

The low point is about 110 feet near the Bridge of the Gods.

In what year was the Pacific Crest Trail officially declared finished?

It had been designated a National Scenic Trail in 1968.

Near which California town is the Pacific Crest Trail's southern terminus?

The northern end continues unofficially into Manning Park in British Columbia.

Which Montana crossing on the CDT sends water to the Arctic, Atlantic or Pacific?

Waters can reach the Arctic Ocean via Hudson Bay.

What is the name of the official southern terminus of the Continental Divide Trail?

Its remote location lacks lodging and other services.

About how many thru-hikers completed the Continental Divide Trail in 2019?

More than 1,000 finished either the AT or PCT that year.

At which spot in Yosemite Valley does the John Muir Trail begin?

The southern terminus is on the summit of Mount Whitney.

Who originated the idea of a trail along the backbone of the High Sierra?

The final section, at Palisade Creek, was completed in 1938.

How many US states does a hiker visit by completing all three Triple Crown trails?

The three trails total about 7,875 miles.

Who was the first person to achieve the Triple Crown of Hiking?

He hiked the AT at 16 in 1969 and the PCT in 1970.

Who was the first person to complete the Triple Crown of Hiking in a single calendar year?

He did it in 2001; Anderson was the first woman in 2018.

Which organisation is the only one that formally recognises Triple Crown hikers?

Honorees receive plaques at its fall gathering.

The National Trails System Act became law on October 2 of which year?

It designated the Appalachian and Pacific Crest trails as the first two national scenic trails.

Which national scenic trail consists of five short, disconnected segments rather than one route?

The system has 11 national scenic trails in all.

Who wrote the Wilderness Act of 1964?

He worked for The Wilderness Society; the bill went through over sixty drafts.

How many acres of federal land did the Wilderness Act protect when signed on September 3, 1964?

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law.

The Wilderness Act defines wilderness as land where the earth is what 'by man'?

Man himself 'is a visitor who does not remain'.

In what year was the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics formed?

It organised the framework into seven principles.

Which outdoor school worked with the US Forest Service to develop the Leave No Trace program in 1990?

Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl were part of the wider effort.

How many principles did early Leave No Trace lists start with in the 1990s before being condensed?

The list was finalised at seven principles by 1999.

Which state contains most of Yellowstone National Park?

Small portions extend into Montana and Idaho.

Yellowstone's bison herd holds what distinction among US public herds?

The park is also home to grizzlies, cougars, wolves and elk.

Which couple started a Yosemite concessions company and camp in 1899?

It is now called Curry Village.

What does the name Ahwahnee, the earlier name for Yosemite Valley, mean?

The Ahwahneechee called themselves 'dwellers' in Ahwahnee.

Yosemite was designated a World Heritage Site in which year?

It is known for granite cliffs, waterfalls and giant sequoias.

Who first reached the summit of Yosemite's famous granite dome in October 1875?

He drilled iron eye bolts into the smooth rock.

In which year did Yosemite introduce a permit system for the cable route up its famous dome?

Traffic had grown to as many as 1,000 people a day.

Which US national park was the most visited in 2025?

It straddles Tennessee and North Carolina.

The most-visited US national park is nicknamed the world capital of which animal?

The red-cheeked salamander is found only in the Smokies.

Which mountain name did Denali National Park carry when created in 1917?

Denali is the highest mountain in North America.

How long did the 93-mile Denali Park Road take to build, finishing in 1938?

Most of the road is closed to private vehicles; visitors ride shuttle buses.

Lafayette National Park was renamed to what in 1929?

It began as Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916.

Who designed and financed about 57 miles of carriage roads on Mount Desert Island's national park?

Motor vehicles are prohibited on the carriage roads.

Which architect designed Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, for the Fred Harvey Company?

The ranch opened on November 9, 1922.

Which explorer named Bright Angel Creek during his 1869 expedition?

He contrasted it with the muddy 'Dirty Devil' creek upstream.

Where were the twenty boys at Baden-Powell's 1907 Brownsea camp organised into four patrols named after?

They were the Wolves, Ravens, Bulls and Curlews.

What colour knot did the Curlews patrol wear at the 1907 Brownsea Island camp?

Green was Bulls, blue Wolves, red Ravens.

Which Scout commissioner bought Gilwell Park for The Boy Scouts Association in 1919?

He wanted camping facilities for London Scouts.

Gilwell Park lies within which forest on the outskirts of London?

The 109-acre site is near Chingford.

Wood Badge beads are said to come from a necklace Baden-Powell took from which Zulu chief's stronghold?

Such acacia-bead necklaces, iziQu, were given to brave warrior leaders.

How many participants attended the first Wood Badge training course in September 1919?

It ran from 8 to 19 September at Gilwell Park.

Where was the first World Scout Jamboree held in 1920?

The site symbolically bore the name of the birthplace of the Olympic Games.

Which World Scout Jamboree was the first held in the Southern Hemisphere?

The first seven Jamborees were held in Europe.

Where was the 25th World Scout Jamboree, cut short by a heat wave and storm, held in 2023?

Participants were evacuated to Seoul on August 7.

Which Polish city was chosen to host the 26th World Scout Jamboree in 2027?

The site chosen was Sobieszowo Island in the Vistula delta.

The Kandersteg International Scout Centre began in 1923 with the purchase of an old chalet in which country?

The chalet had been left unused by a railway company after a tunnel was finished.

On what date each year do Guides mark World Thinking Day?

Guides think of their Guide sisters around the world.

The three leaves of the Guide trefoil badge stand for what?

The Guide world flag uses the same colours as the badge.

A 1909 Boy Scout rally at which London venue is tied to the origins of the Girl Guides?

The Girl Guides Association was formed in 1910.

Camp Fire Girls was founded in 1910 as a sister organisation to which group?

It was the first nonsectarian, multicultural organisation for girls in America.

Camp Fire Girls changed its name to Camp Fire Boys and Girls in which year, when it admitted boys?

Its roots trace to Luther and Charlotte Gulick on Sebago Lake, Maine.

In which Connecticut town was the first Woodcraft 'Tribe' established in 1901?

Ernest Thompson Seton's scheme strongly influenced Scouting.

Which magazine published Seton's 1902 articles that became the Birch Bark Roll?

At Rudyard Kipling's urging he also wrote the novel Two Little Savages.

Frederick Gunn marched his students 40 miles to which Connecticut town in 1861 for America's first summer camp?

The American Camp Association recognises Gunn as the founder of leisure camping in the US.

Which camps, founded by a Gunnery alumnus, are the oldest continuously operating summer camps in North America?

Gregg Clarke revived the old Gunnery camp.

The International Astronomical Youth Camp, one of the oldest science camps, began in which year?

Soviet summer camps were called Young Pioneer camps.

Therm-a-Rest's self-inflating mattress was invented by former engineers from which company?

The parent company is Cascade Designs, founded in 1972 in Seattle.

Hilleberg was the first company to use which coating on tent flysheets, in 1975?

Its flagship tent is the Keron tunnel tent.

Which Hilleberg tent is the single-pole solo tunnel design?

The Allak is the freestanding dome model.

What did a night at the first KOA campground in Billings cost in 1962?

Founder Dave Drum saw travellers heading to the Seattle World's Fair.

How many points are on KOA's annual campground inspection?

KOA claims it is the most stringent in the business.

Who became KOA's first female CEO in April 2019?

It was the company's 57th year.

Who carried a Primus stove to the South Pole in 1911?

Hillary and Tenzing also relied on Primus stoves on Everest in 1953.

Which Primus stove, introduced in 2001, was the first to burn LPG, white gas, kerosene, jet fuel and diesel?

Primus stoves are made in Tartu, Estonia.

The Trangia stove's Swedish nickname 'stormkök' translates to what?

The windscreen protects the pot and flame.

What fuel does the classic Trangia burner use?

The brass burner has 23 or 24 jets around its top.

Which company did William Coffin Coleman's firm acquire in 1996?

Campingaz is a French company.

Which conglomerate acquired Coleman's parent Jarden in a deal announced in 2015?

Newell bought Jarden for $13.2 billion in a deal that closed in April 2016.

Which certificated-site law lets the Camping and Caravanning Club license small campsites without planning permission?

Certificated sites take up to five caravans and ten tents.

Which polar explorer served as president of the Camping Club from 1909 to 1912?

Baden-Powell followed as president from 1919 to 1941.

JanSport is named after which person?

Murray Pletz bought her a $180 sewing machine to sew the first pack in 1966.

Which mountain do JanSport employees climb every year in the longest consecutive group climb?

The 2018 climb was the 46th annual ascent.

What was Tim Leatherman's first product, sold from 1983, called?

His prototype had been nicknamed 'Mr. Crunch'.

Trouble with which car on a 1975 trip inspired Tim Leatherman's 'Boy Scout knife with pliers'?

He bought it in Amsterdam for $300.

Who invented ferrocerium, the 'ferro rod' fire-starting alloy, in 1903?

Its sparks can reach 3,315 °C.

Which rare-earth element gives ferrocerium the second half of its name?

'Ferro' comes from the Latin for iron.

How many 'essentials' do the Spokane Mountaineers list, adding shelter, signalling and toilet paper?

The toilet paper doubles as tinder.

Company lore says Nalgene's president noticed which group using its lab bottles while camping?

Marsh Hyman ran the Rochester, New York firm.

Which band played the grand opening of the first The North Face store in San Francisco in 1966?

The store was at 308 Columbus Ave.

The North Face's logo is inspired by which Yosemite rock formation?

The company was founded in 1968 to supply climbers.

Douglas Tompkins sold his stake in The North Face in 1967 to climb which Patagonian peak?

He sold to Kenneth 'Hap' Klopp for $50,000.

Patagonia's first store, opened in 1973 in Ventura, was called what?

It occupied a former meat-packing plant.

In 1993 Patagonia became the first company to make clothing from polyester sourced from what?

Since 1985 it has given 1% of sales to environmental groups.

REI was founded in 1938 in which city?

Lloyd and Mary Anderson set it up as a co-operative after importing an Austrian ice axe.

Which two categories of outdoor gear does REI notably not sell?

It sells camping, hiking, cycling, snow and travel gear.

Airstream's 1936 Clipper was essentially a rebadged version of which earlier all-aluminium trailer?

Byam moved the door from the front to the side.

Of more than 400 travel-trailer builders in 1936, how many survived the Depression?

Production resumed in 1948 after wartime aluminium shortages.

Airstream trailers are manufactured in which Ohio town?

The company is now a division of Thor Industries.

Which Petzl device, produced in 1991, was its first self-braking belay device?

Its first brand-name headlamp, the ZOOM, came in 1981.

Fernand Petzl's 1950 exploration of which French cave was the first 1,000-metre descent?

Nylon rope developed by Pierre Chevalier made it possible.

Zippo lighters have been produced since 1933 in which Pennsylvania town?

The company also operated in Niagara Falls, Ontario from 1949 to 2002.

Which war correspondent wrote that 'Zippo is probably the most important element on the front'?

Wartime Zippos used black crackle steel due to brass shortages.

Which wild Adirondack black bear famously learned to open several models of bear canister?

The 125-pound bear was killed by a hunter in 2012.

How high should a hung bear bag be, according to standard advice?

It should also hang 10 feet from any vertical support.

Where are IGBC canister tests against captive bears carried out?

A bear must have an hour of contact and leave no hole over 1/4 inch.

Bear spray stopped undesirable bear behaviour in what share of cases in a 2008 Alaska review?

98% of users escaped uninjured in close encounters.

Which University of Montana graduate student led development of capsaicin bear spray in the mid-1980s?

Bill Pounds, who helped, went on to found Counter Assault.

Hammock campers hang which quilt beneath the hammock so body weight does not crush its insulation?

The top quilt is essentially the top half of a sleeping bag.

The Taíno word 'hamaca', origin of 'hammock', means what?

On long fishing trips the Taíno slept in their nets, safe from snakes.

Everest's South Base Camp in Nepal sits at what altitude?

The North Base Camp in Tibet is at 5,150 metres.

From which airport do most Everest Base Camp trekkers begin their walk?

About 40,000 people a year make the trek.

A Swedish torch is a log incised and burned in the middle; which war is it traditionally linked to?

Freshly cut green wood burns thanks to the chimney effect.

A camping Dutch oven's rimmed, concave lid is designed to hold what?

Three integral legs lift the pot above the fire.

The Dutch oven is the official state cooking pot of Utah, Arkansas and which other state?

Lewis and Clark carried a Dutch oven on their expedition.

What is the most widespread friction fire-making method among indigenous cultures?

Its advantage is that it requires no rope.

Ötzi the Iceman carried flint and pyrite for sparks along with what fire-starter?

He lived in the Alps between 3400 and 3100 BCE.

The word 'tipi' entered English from which languages?

What sets a tipi apart from other conical tents is its smoke flaps.

What distinguishes a tipi from other conical tents?

Modern tipis usually have a canvas covering.

What is the traditional covering of a Central Asian yurt?

The felt is made from wool of the sheep that travel with the herders.

What is a Mongolian yurt called?

A ger has straight roof poles and columns supporting the crown.

Which 1970 concert inspired Michael Eavis to start Glastonbury?

The first Worthy Farm festival drew 1,500 people on 19 September 1970.

The 1971 Glastonbury main stage was a one-tenth replica of what?

Bill Harkin built it from scaffolding over a 'blind spring'.

Burning Man began in 1986 on which San Francisco beach?

Larry Harvey and Jerry James built the first Man from scrap wood.

Burning Man's temporary Black Rock City lies about 100 miles from which Nevada city?

The event has been held there since 1990.

How many stated principles guide Burning Man, according to co-founder Larry Harvey?

They include radical self-reliance, gifting and leaving no trace.

Who wrote the screenplay for the 2014 film Wild, based on Cheryl Strayed's PCT memoir?

Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern earned Oscar nominations.

What does Cheryl nickname her overstuffed backpack in the film Wild?

She begins her trek in the Mojave Desert.

Which Oregon landmark marks the end of Cheryl Strayed's journey in Wild?

She hiked 1,100 miles of the 2,650-mile trail in 1995.

New Zealand's Great Walks network was established by the Department of Conservation in which year?

The Milford Track is the most famous of them.

Which is the longest of New Zealand's Great Walk tracks, at 82 kilometres?

The Routeburn, at 32 km, is the shortest.

Which Great Walk is actually a canoe voyage rather than a walk?

It runs 145 km over five days on New Zealand's longest navigable river.

What instant fine did New Zealand's Freedom Camping Act 2011 set for camping illegally?

Dumping sewage incorrectly can bring a fine of up to $10,000.

The word 'bushcraft' originally referred to skills used in the bush of which country?

'Bush' likely comes from the Dutch 'bosch', meaning forest.

Which brand of trailer did Airstream acquire in 2016 and later withdraw in 2020?

Nest trailers were made of moulded fibreglass.

Which US president stopped at McKinley Park Station in 1923 while touring the Alaska Railroad?

He drove a golden spike at Nenana on July 15, 1923.

What small ridge shelter for one to three people do armies issue as 'shelter halves'?

Two soldiers each carry half and pitch one tent together.

The campfire standard 'Kumbaya' is a spiritual first sung in which culture of the Carolina and Georgia islands?

Folklorist Robert Winslow Gordon made the first known recording in 1926, an unaccompanied tenor identified as 'H. Wylie'.

Marshmallows take their name from a plant that grows in what kind of habitat?

Althaea officinalis, the marsh mallow, was originally used for a medicinal confection; modern marshmallows use sugar, water and gelatin.

Who patented the 1956 extrusion process that lets marshmallows be made as a long rope and cut to size?

Before that, the starch mogul system had made marshmallows a mass-market penny candy sold in tins.

MSR, the Seattle maker of camp stoves and water filters, began in 1969 as what?

Larry Penberthy's 1973 Model 9 stove separated the burner from pressurised fuel bottles; MSR is now owned by Cascade Designs.

Jetboil, maker of integrated backpacking stoves, was founded in 2001 in a former woolen mill in which state?

Founders Dwight Aspinwall and Perry Dowst debuted the stoves at the 2003 Outdoor Retailer show; Johnson Outdoors bought the firm in 2012.

Historically, the Australian term 'overlanding' referred to what?

Len Beadell's outback roads, like the Gunbarrel Highway, are still used by modern vehicle-based overlanders.

Which government contractor won the 2017 contract to rebuild and run Recreation.gov?

Conceived in 1995 as an information service, the platform took bookings for nine federal agencies by the mid-2020s.

How many US federal agencies use Recreation.gov to offer reservation booking?

Five more agencies share data with the platform, which began as an information-sharing service in 1995.