Guides
Questions people actually ask, answered properly. Every claim here is sourced, every source is named, and where we couldn't verify something we say so instead of rounding it up. If the honest answer is inconvenient — an expiry date, a licence you need, a rating a product doesn't carry — that part stays in.
What does a 5,000 lb anchor point actually mean?
It means the anchorage must be capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds for each worker attached. But that is only half the rule: OSHA allows an alternative of a system designed, installed and used under the supervision of a qualified person with a safety factor of at least two. The 5,000 lb figure is the option you take when nobody has engineered the anchor — and it applies to the anchorage, not to the connector you bolt to it.
Read the guide →What do 8x42 and 10x42 mean on binoculars, and which should you buy?
The first number is magnification, the second is the diameter of the front lens in millimetres. Divide the second by the first and you get the exit pupil in millimetres, which is what governs low-light performance — 5.3 mm for an 8x42 against 4.2 mm for a 10x42. For general use buy the 8x42: it is steadier in the hand, has a wider field of view, and most people see more detail through it despite the lower magnification.
Read the guide →Why doesn't a boat compass point north?
Because two different errors sit between the compass and true north. Variation is the angle between magnetic north and true north at your location, and comes off the chart. Deviation is the deflection caused by your own vessel's iron, magnets and electrical gear — and unlike variation it changes as the boat changes heading. The sum of the two is compass error. Deviation is measured by swinging the compass and recorded on a deviation card.
Read the guide →Do you still need a compass if you have GPS?
Yes. Carry both, because each fails in a way the other does not. GPS accuracy depends on factors outside anyone's control including sky blockage, and battery performance degrades in cold. A magnetic compass needs no power but cannot be trusted near the magnetic poles, where NOAA defines blackout zones in which compasses should not be relied on for navigation. The National Park Service lists map, compass and GPS together as one of the Ten Essentials.
Read the guide →Do you need a rescue plan for working at height?
Yes. OSHA requires it. In construction, 29 CFR 1926.502(d)(20) requires the employer to provide for prompt rescue of employees in the event of a fall or assure they can rescue themselves. General industry is stricter still — 1910.140(c)(21) requires prompt rescue with no self-rescue alternative in that sentence. Relying on the emergency services to arrive is not a compliant plan, and manufacturers say so in their own documentation.
Read the guide →When does a fall-protection harness need to be retired?
Immediately after any fall or shock load, and whenever inspection finds damage. Beyond that there is no single answer: OSHA sets no expiry date, and manufacturers disagree. Petzl, CAMP, Skylotec, ISC and CMC all publish a ten-year limit for textile products; FallTech states it has no preset service life at all. Check the retirement rule printed in your own harness's instructions, because it is the one that governs.
Read the guide →Should a headlamp use rechargeable or disposable batteries?
Rechargeable for regular use — cheaper over time, and usually brighter, because a lithium-ion cell delivers higher current than three AAAs. For deep cold and for anything stored unused, primary lithium AA or AAA cells are the better answer: they are rated to minus 40 degrees Celsius where alkaline stops at about minus 18, they weigh a third less, and they will not corrode the lamp. Alkaline's real problem is not runtime, it is leakage.
Read the guide →How many lumens do you actually need in a headlamp?
For camp tasks, reading and walking a known trail, 150 to 250 lumens is enough. For route-finding, technical ground or night running, 400 lumens and up earns its weight. But the headline number is measured under a standard that most buyers misread: the advertised maximum brightness and the advertised maximum runtime are almost never the same mode, and lumens do not predict how far the beam reaches.
Read the guide →Should you buy a headlamp or a handheld flashlight?
Buy a headlamp for any task you perform with your hands — camp work, repairs, climbing, night running. Buy a handheld when you need to see something far away, because reach comes from a large reflector and a headlamp cannot have one. A 250-lumen Streamlight handheld reaches 447 metres while a 2,200-lumen Fenix headlamp reaches 229. Most people who work in the dark end up owning both.
Read the guide →What do IP ratings mean on a flashlight or headlamp?
The first digit is protection against solids and dust, on a scale of 0 to 6. The second is protection against water, on a scale of 0 to 9. An X means that digit was not tested, not that it scored zero. Two traps matter: a higher second digit does not automatically include the lower ones, so IPX7 immersion does not cover IPX6 water jets unless the product is dual-coded; and IPX8 depth and duration are agreed by the manufacturer, not fixed by the standard.
Read the guide →What is a leading-edge SRL and when do you need one?
A leading-edge SRL is a self-retracting lifeline tested for use where the line can bear on an edge during a fall, and for anchoring at or below the worker's dorsal D-ring. You need one whenever the lifeline could run across a sharp or abrasive edge — most often when the anchor is at foot level rather than overhead. A standard SRL in that position can have its line severed or its energy absorber prevented from deploying.
Read the guide →What actually makes binoculars expensive?
Four things, roughly in order: coatings, the glass itself, the prism system, and manufacturing tolerance. Fully multi-coated means every glass surface has multiple anti-reflective layers and is the meaningful bar — coated, fully coated and multi-coated all mean less. ED or fluoride glass reduces colour fringing. And a roof prism must be made to roughly 300 times the angular precision of a porro prism, which is why a good compact binocular costs what it does.
Read the guide →Do EPIRBs and PLBs require a subscription?
No. A 406 MHz EPIRB or PLB transmits to Cospas-Sarsat, an intergovernmental search-and-rescue satellite system, and carries no subscription or airtime fee. Satellite messengers such as Garmin inReach are a different product and do require a paid plan. Beacons must still be registered — free, and the step most owners skip.
Read the guide →Should you buy a foam or an inflatable life jacket?
Buy foam for children, non-swimmers, and anything fast or rough — personal watercraft, tubing, towed sports and whitewater. Buy an inflatable for adults who would otherwise leave a bulky vest in the locker, since the jacket that gets worn beats the better one that doesn't. Inflatables are serviceable devices and need rearming after use.
Read the guide →Do you need a carbon monoxide detector on a boat?
Yes. Any boat with an enclosed cabin or sleeping space should carry a marine-rated carbon monoxide alarm. CO is colourless and odourless, its early symptoms are indistinguishable from a long day on the water, and it can reach you from your own generator, your own exhaust drawn back aboard, or the boat rafted up beside you.
Read the guide →Do marine flares expire, and how do you dispose of them?
Yes. Pyrotechnic marine distress signals carry an expiry date stamped on each unit, and expired signals do not satisfy the US carriage requirement. Disposal is genuinely unresolved: they are pyrotechnics, they cannot go in household trash, and firing them off is a false distress alert and illegal. Routes vary by locality — ask marine patrol, the fire department or your hazardous-waste programme.
Read the guide →