Chattanooga Overland Adventure Festival

[Mistwalker]

Some friends and acquaintances are putting together a really cool event called The Chattanooga Overland Adventure Festival this coming Spring.It is going to be a lot of fun for the whole family. There will be multiple presentations and learning stations, and I will be participating in a few ways. One is that I will be doing a presentation on basic knife skills, where I will be speaking on the historical uses of knives, and the development of blade profiles and geometries, as well as demonstrating some of them in their intended uses. I will also be doing a presentation on fieldcraft applications of knife techniques. It will be on working with organic materials, to fashion and produce field expedient tools and utensils, from a sort of primitive living aspect. I may also do a presentation on wet weather fire starting techniques since it will be a spring time event. Another thing we are looking into is how we may set up a projector so that I can have my slideshow available to do a presentation on an introduction to wild plants, and on track and scat identification as well.

It will be held at the Trials Training Center, a 650 acre trails and wilderness complex in Sequatchie Tennessee, just a half hour drive from Chattanooga Tennessee, the weekend of April 26-28. It is very much a family friendly event, with lessons and activities geared toward empowering families to adventure together.

It is a large complex with a mix of trails and wilderness areas, and there are even two waterfalls on the property, one fairly large and one pretty small.

Directions Here
https://trialstrainingcenter.com/location-directions/

There will be overlanding as well, They will be doing staggered group rides of all levels to the surrounding trails throughout the weekend. It’ll be assisted with the Gps App Gaia that will have a 3 month premium subscription free with purchase of the event ticket. Each ride will be supported by a leader and follow up driver/rider and will be according to drivers skill level.

It looks like the pre-registration package is going to be $120 for the weekend, which includes passes for all of the events, comes with a small adventure kit that includes a headlamp a small knife and a fire steel, and it also includes primitive camping accommodations on site.

There are three tickets that include cabins which are $220 each.

At the gate ticket prices are $120 for tickets plus primitive camping, or $60 dollars for just the passes to the events. At the gate pricing does not include the adventure kit.

Also there are other options for accommodations as well. Besides the primitive camping areas and the cabins, there are several motels just 20 minutes from the sight in Jasper TN and Kimball TN. If you click on the acomodations tab near the top of the page their are links for all of the hotels in the area.

I will pass on more information and details as I have them And for more information you can contact David at ChattanoogaOverlandAdventure@gmail.com

 

[Mistwalker]

Things will be a little different this go-round. In years past I have usually chosen to represent Fiddleback Forge in the Bushcraft category with those types of uses. As below with with a shot of the original Bushfinger from a class with some friends whose sons were Boy Scouts about 8 or 9 years ago, or the Hunter...ironically with some friends from my daughter's school who were leaving for basic training soon at the time a year after that, or the mid-tech Kephart a few years after those...

Since this is not a dedicated Bushcraft event, but more geared toward adventuring as a family in various circumstances, I a going to go with representing Fiddleback Forge in the EDC, vacation, Day-Hiking, and Backpacking sort of applications.

 

[wildmanh]

Sounds neat.

 

[Mistwalker]

Sounds neat.

It's going to be an awesome event!! Here is more about it. The entry price isn't just per person, it's per family as the whole purpose behind the event is for us to educate and empower families to adventure together safely and more confidently. One of the subjects I will be presenting on with a slide show is on animal track and scat identification, and how to tell more about their sizes and dispositions from the context clues in the area.

 

[Hunam]

The amount of sausage in the pics of this forum users is astounding. And they say Americans don't eat sausage. XD

 

[Mistwalker]

The amount of sausage in the pics of this forum users is astounding. And they say Americans don't eat sausage. XD

Really? Maybe I've missed something lately, but I think I have seen more steaks, ribs, butts, chicken breasts, and fish in this forum than I have sausage. But I think most people who like day hikes and also like meat take summer sausages or beef jerky, or both, on their hikes. because it keeps and travels better than say a perfectly cooked steak, that few would really want to save for later and eat cold on a trail somewhere...

 

[Mistwalker]

This is the official poster for this event. If you have any questions, you can send an email to ChattanoogaOverlandAdventure @ gmail.com and David will be happy to answer them.

 

[Mistwalker]

The conversation between Alayna and myself this morning, over our breakfasts in motion as we were getting our things sorted for our respective days ahead, as she paused to look at my kit laying on the table in the art studio.

Her: You gong to look for more tracks today?

Me: Yes, the lecture we're doing is only about a month away.

Her: What is it with you and liking to stalk things that would love to kill and eat you?

Me: Well, I guess to paraphrase Hemingway... I suppose it's because I much prefer hunting things that will hunt back over things that just hide.

 

[Mistwalker]

A little more about this event from David, the one putting the event together.

https://chattanooga-overland-adventure.ticketleap.com/chattanooga-overland-adventure/details

 

[Fiddleback]

One thing Pops has taught me is that this time of year is packed with great events. Pops is having to hit lots of weekend events. This means I am missing a bunch of cool ones too. C'est la vie, but I think this one would be a fun one.

 

[Mistwalker]

One thing Pops has taught me is that this time of year is packed with great events. Pops is having to hit lots of weekend events. This means I am missing a bunch of cool ones too. C'est la vie, but I think this one would be a fun one.

I wish you could make it, for a day or part of one anyway. This is the first event of it's kind in our general area here in the tri-state region. It is geared toward over-landing and off-road adventuring, so participants are required to have an AWD of 4x4 vehicle. The skills we are teaching at this first one are mostly over-landing driving skills, land navigation, etc.. I am doing a classes on advanced / primitive land navigation techniques, knife safety, knife skills, and basic wilderness survival techniques from an over-landing perspective with an emphasis on children being present. We have multiple presenters. We have a couple of sponsors who are pretty big. Subaru is our main sponsor, but we have other sponsors who are pretty big in the over-landing scene here locally, plus a few eateries and coffee shops as well. Plus a few of my friends in the knife and gear industry are donating several items for contest and door prizes to help sponsor the event as well. Rob from Exotac is donating several fire starters, L.T. Wright donated a BushBaby and some other swag. Schrade is donating some items for prizes also. Plus I am still waiting to hear back from my friend Lindsey at Buck, whom I reached out to because their 110, 102, and 119 played such critical roles in my early learning that I would love to be able to include examples. As well as Daniel who is the new owner of Going Gear. So far the ticket sales and expected turn out are doing well enough that our hopes of expanding this event into a non-profit with more events throughout the year are looking pretty good.

 

[Mistwalker]

I am also in talks with the folks at Leatherman about being one of our co-sponsors and donating some items for prizes as well.

 

[mqqn]

Such a cool event, and I am even more happy to add that my wife and I just bought a house in Winchester TN - just 20 minutes west of where the event is happening. We likely will not be able to attend this year, but we each have our own trail (not TRIAL) bikes that we enjoy riding, and we are moving to just the right area of our great country.

best

mqqn

 

[Mistwalker]

Such a cool event, and I am even more happy to add that my wife and I just bought a house in Winchester TN - just 20 minutes west of where the event is happening. We likely will not be able to attend this year, but we each have our own trail (not TRIAL) bikes that we enjoy riding, and we are moving to just the right area of our great country.

best

mqqn

Thanks! I know exactly where Manchester is. You will just be on the other side of Mont Eagle from the event. There are a lot of property owners here working together who have bought undeveloped land in the more remote areas just to build over-landing trails on for all the different groups in the area. There may be a few your way shooting to get the Nashville and Chattanooga crowds by the time they're done. This is the first one, so turn out may not be exactly as much as some hoped, but it's still a few weeks away and the feedback is looking good already. We have a lot of individual families already coming, and a couple of BSA Troops considering it. I know my local ttoop won't be coming as a unit, but a few of the families are coming on their own. We are already in talks about what all could be done with the skills lessons for an autumn event because we all want to make this a twice a year event at minimum, but also what could be done the other two seasons as well, because ideally we would like to make this a seasonal event.

 

[Mistwalker]

Sounds like a blast! Too far for me, but that looks really cool. Good luck with it!

I think it will be a blast.

The Kershaw Skyline and Princeton Tec Byte are the knife and light being given out in the adventure kits that come with the pre-order ticks, and there will also be a compass and ferro rod, as well as a few other things that are a value greater than the price of the ticket.

Classic Blades of Fort Oglethorpe Georgia, just a few miles south of Chattanooga, one of our sponsors, and they are given a coupon for 25% off their merchandise in the pre-order tickets and 15% for tickets bought at the gate

Battlefield Outdoors, also in Fort Oglethorpe is giving a 15% off coupon at the gate

Among the topics of discussion will be how to identify and avoid problems from some of the areas more toxic residents of the region

We will also be going into fishing from both an intentional recreation perspective, and from an improvisational contingency perspective. As well as why a fixed blade is usually a better option in this endeavor, but why the Skyline is actually a good option if a lightweight folder is preferable to the individual's circumstances.

And along with the workshop on knife safety and knife techniques, I will also be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of a fixed blades and folding knives by comparison. As well as comparing and contrasting the advantages and disadvantages of different blade profiles.

We will also be giving out several fire starters from Exotac as contest prizes.