Just wanted to check, as so far the majority of questions seem to be around walking/hiking. I hope wider pursuits are also welcome, and have questions in these areas, but wanted to check the community thoughts on this first.
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Apparently not.– mendotaCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 0:50
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@mendota that's been rewritten and reopened. Is much better now in it's current form.– studiohackCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 19:25
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4 Answers
As for climbing, that was included https://area51.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2473/can-we-add-mountaineering-rock-climbing-snowboarding-mountain-biking
As for Sailing, I could have sworn I saw a "boating" or sailing SE proposal, but can't seem to find it.
Since sailing by itself is a pretty broad area, and for big sailboats and voyages can stray far from what most consider the "great outdoors", perhaps a reasonable threshold is that if the watercraft can easily be carried by its passengers, it's good for here.
- Kayaking? - Definitely
- Canoeing? - Definitely
- Rafting? - Definitely
- Cruising across the ocean on some mega-yacht? - Probably not
- Cruising around lakes in a 2 person dinghy? Sure why not?
- Marine radios? Maybe?
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Sounds good to me. Regarding the marine radios, I think questions about their use in the outdoors is fine. Questions about, e.g. how they work are off-topic.– KevinCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 0:51
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2Boating was apparently deleted due to inactivity. Given that travel by water is common for lots of outdoor enthusiasts - kayaking, canoeing, rafting, etc - I would put those on topic. I would also contend that solo sailing (or other smallish craft sailing, no matter how many people are involved) would be on topic, but definitely not, as you say, megayachting.– hairboatCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 15:47
It looks like there is already a kayaking question and a sailing one, so I'll assume the answer is yes:-)
To answer your very broad question: Yes, "other pursuits" are welcome. We're not limited to just walking/hiking.
I posted something similar over in What should our FAQ contain? that bears repeating here.
I consider activities that take place outside using primarily power produced by you to be the parameters for what's included in "The Great Outdoors." So that would mean that canoeing, kayaking, and rafting (whitewater or otherwise) are on-topic, but other types of boating are not (yachts, motor boats, cruises, commercial shipping of any kind).
Just because it takes place outdoors does not mean that it qualifies as "The Great Outdoors." I can drive an 18-wheeler truck through the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by meadows and wildlife, but trucking is not an activity of The Great Outdoors. Similarly, questions about legal statures governing commercial shipping are not on-topic.
Regarding the boat towing question: I do not think that the question as it is currently worded is on-topic. If it is reworded to be specifically about canoers or kayakers accepting a tow, it would be better but I don't know if even that is enough to convince me that it is.
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Excellent explanation - my 'yacht' question may be an edge case then - very small yacht, almost a dinghy, which is why camping on shore is required :-)– Rory Alsop ModCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 13:29
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2I'd argue sailing as exempt from your "self-powered vessels" rule. Sailing requires a similar knowledge base to a lot of camping-related activity: keeping your stores dry, cooking on tiny stoves, predicting the weather roughly based on wind direction and sky appearance... etc. The aspects of sailing (and all little-craft boating) that are basically camping on the water should be on-topic.– hairboatCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 15:51
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Repairing an outboard engine, maybe not so much. Knots are useful to other areas of outdoorsiness than just sailing, though, as is splicing and sewing and other stuff you do to boat parts that you could also do to tent parts (or whatever).– hairboatCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 15:52
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I can probably be convinced that sailing is on-topic. And there are definitely aspects of various types of boating that apply to other outdoor activities; your knots example is a good one, and there's already at least one good question here about knots.– LauraCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 15:56
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I would say that the kind of sailing that is described for example in Ransome's "Swallows and Amazons" books is definitely on topic here. Commented Jan 26, 2012 at 3:40
Others I'm curious to hear opinions on (mostly just dredging up some potentials in my own mind to see where the community lies...)
- Bike touring
- Other bike-related activities (mountain-biking, street-biking)
- Disc Golf
- Golf-Golf
- Trail Running
- Street luge
- Long-Boarding
- Skate-boarding
- Hang-Gliding
- Ultra-light airplanes
Again - not trying to be cheeky here (nor do we need to create a comprehensive list), I'm just sussing out where the boundaries lie. Cheers!
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I reckon this is worth adding into the question, not as an answer, so it can also be answered.– Rory Alsop ModCommented Jan 27, 2012 at 12:01
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2Let's wait until we actually have questions about these...some of these could be partially on-topic depending on how the question is worded, and it's often better to deal with concrete examples than abstracts. :)– LauraCommented Jan 27, 2012 at 15:46
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I agree with Rory that these should be in a separate question, but I'd say at the least most questions on the bikes, running, disc golf, hang-gliding, and maybe golf would be on-topic. The others - luge, boards, ULAVs - I'm iffy on and I'd say it depends on what aspect they're asking about and how they're worded.– KevinCommented Jan 28, 2012 at 16:33