Shelter and Overnight Contest

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Guyon

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First off... this is the ACTUAL CONTEST THREAD. Do not post conversation here so that judging will be easier later on. Chatting in this thread will render entries subject to disqualification.

There is a separate chat thread here where you can chat and/or ask questions: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1483273-Overnight-Shelter-Contest-CHAT-THREAD

There's a fair amount of new peoples around here so we could do some repeats - I enjoyed many of the monthly challenges. Carving a fork was one of em - maybe carving something else instead? I also loved the shelter building one where you had to sleep in it, but I don't have the location or time to do it at the moment. Some folks do though, it'd be fun to see that one again. I dunno. What about go out on a day hike and take pics of edible plants you find and educate the forum/yourselves about what you find? Perhaps a make a salad challenge using only edibles from the wilderness. Cook meat and cut with Becker for becker content and protien goodness.

So at the suggestion of our own Captain Airyca, we are going to semi-resurrect a challenge that the Becker subforum offered back in 2014--a shelter building and overnight contest.

So it's simple, really...
  • Use a Becker knife to assist in building an outdoor shelter. Preferably in the outdoors.
  • Spend the night in said shelter.
  • Document your progress/process, both in building and sleeping all night in the shelter. Honor system is in place, but time stamps on photos are encouraged.
  • Report back here with evidence of your accomplishment. It needs to be a complete overnight endeavor (daylight to daylight), so we're looking for visuals on (a) shelter completion one day and (b) the participant in the shelter at night and (c) morning after, preferably involving a clothed rather than naked participant.

We will let this one run till end of April, at which time a winner will be selected. The winning participant will receive a NIB BK-5.

At this point, I'm going to steal Derek's previous disclaimer:

Ka-Bar, Cutco, Bladeforums, Ethan Becker, nor any other entities, especially Guyon, in this reality or another astral plane, are responsible for any harm that may come to you by participating in this contest. No one is compelled to participate, and participants enter of their own free will and will not hold liable any entity previously named or associated with these contests, including Bladeforums, Ka-Bar, Cutco, Ethan Becker, or any affiliates. Especially Guyon. I mean, you can sue Bladite if you want to, but you're just going to get some logging tools and a bunch of code you don't understand. Enter at your own risk, use your heads, keep the sharp bits pointed away from yourself (and away from Guyon), and good luck.

Folks are welcome to search the past contest threads for ideas:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1159635-March-2014-Challenge-Outdoor-Shelters
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ead-04-January-February-2014-Outdoor-Shelters
 
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Here's my entry:

Had to build a tarp stand for around the fire before we even got going.





The spot I chose, quite roomy (BK20 for scale)



Scouted out for fallen deadwood and found myself 2 reasonably sized support logs laying around.





Action shot of the trimming process to attain 4 support sticks for the two main logs.



Tarred twine for fastening, BK16 for cutting the twine.



Not the prettiest, but it is sturdy.



...and the tarp fits successfully.





More twine fastened the doorway tarp (with reflective inside surface for added warmth).



...and some more fallen branches for camouflage (no live trees were harming in the making of this shelter). It looks like a run-down mess but it's waterproof and has nearly every crevice sealed for maximum air preservation inside.



This is me, in the dark, in the shelter, right before bed. I'm fully clothed in this one but I most definitely slept overnight in the shelter.



#shelterselfie



This is the next morning, you can tell because it's sunnier and because I'm in my sleeping bag less dressed. The shelter was very roomy, still hard to sit up in and the condensation on the inside meant a cold wakeup if I sat up too far to the rear, but I was warm and comfortable all night. (had to remove the door to get a good shot inside)



Before packing up, this is a shot of the interior in all its roominess.



the BK20 and BK16 shown in the photos were the only knives used to make the shelter, and I have eyewitnesses who took the pictures of me in the shelter would could verify my overnight status. Or, I could post a screenshot of my phone showing the two photos happened on different days...
 
Saturday I set off with the dogs and small kit. bk 29, firesteel and gi canteen and cup. No food and 1 quart of water. 0415171309.jpg
The weather was decent in the high 40's so I thought luck was on my side. I gathered some alder limbs to construct a frame for my shelter downsized_0415171405.jpg I twisted some black berry vines to construct some cord. downsized_0415171421.jpg Then I bound the poles together with it. downsized_0415171429.jpg After covering the shelter with boughs downsized_0415171540.jpg I set to foraging for my supper. I found both fiddleheads and nettles. downsized_0415171610.jpg downsized_0415171732.jpg Both were terrible btw. About 30 mins before sundown disaster struck. My dogs decided to have a showdown over sleeping position inside the shelter with me in it too. I'm not sure if you have seen what a dog fight looks like in 4 sq feet but the aftermath looks something like a mild puncture wound on my thumb and a destroyed shelter.
downsized_0415171901_0001.jpg So after a poor supper at best a throbbing thumb an obliterated domicile and no beer I said the heck with it and went home. I know this doesn't meet the criteria for the contest but it was an interesting day none the less.
 
We have a winner! KingMC, forward your info to myself and Guyon. Other guy who did stuff but didn't quite make it (Awesom-O-4000), forward your info as well. Murph, you should be ashamed of yourself. Not for not participating, but in general. Just kinda as a rule.
 
Thanks, Derek. If there had been more than one qualifying entry, I wanted Ethan to be the judge, but this one was pretty clear cut. KingMC, send me your address.
 
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