Beckers at the East Tenn Suvivalist Gathering

[Moosez45]

So, I had my Gathering this weekend. It was alot of fun, even though the turn out was smaller than I had expected. We had 8 total, but we had a good time, learned some things, taught some things, partied, and played. All in all, a good time. We are all ready working on the Spring Gathering, so, ya'll get ready.

Our wood pile, White and Red Oak

Venison Stew in the Dutch Oven. Man that was some good eatin'.

My hotel reservations, gotta BG it up, ya' know.

Some of the area

The "cook" fire

Fire making Competition, Machine26, DonM, my wife, and Scott

DonM won by a good margin, but had to switch to a BK2 for his wood processing. That Red Oak was some tough stuff. Knives used, my BK2, Machine26's BK10, the prize BK2, and a RAK by Justin Gingrich
Don won a BK2 for his firebending skills

Next Event, the Shave.

Moose

 

[Moosez45]

The next Comp was the shave. Since Becker/Kabar was kind enough to sponsor the prizes for the events, I felt it only fitting that we focus on the knife use for the events.

The Shave- the objective here was to use a factory edged BK14 to make as many small shavings as you can in 3 min. Competitors were allowed to use a pull through sharpener to touch up between rounds. Everyone used the same knife, the prize knife. Here we go
Don's daughter Sarah, starts off

Her finished shaves

Next up, Machine26

His finished shaves

Last up, Scott

His finished shaves

Even though Machine had more wood, most of them were real thick, the point was to get fine shavings, so, Sarah won herself a BK14 ESKABAR

Next up, The Baton

 

[Moosez45]

The Baton- The object here was to take a BK3 TacTool and render 25 pieces of wood no larger than 1 index finger by 1 index finger (3/4"x3/4") in the shortest amount of time. Length was never mentioned. Here we go, first up, my wife LadyButterfly77

It took her 19 mins to get this pile

Next up, Machine26

Machine got his in 4 mins and won himself a slightly used BK13

Last Competion, The Chop

Moose

 

[Moosez45]

The Chop- Take a BK9 and take 10 strokes on a poplar log. The deepest cut wins. Only one person entered in this, Machine26, so I stepped in to swing it. Lady took the pics, sorry for the $hithouse in the background, this was a campsite after all, lol. First up, Moose

Next up, Machine26

Machine beat me in this one. One of my last swings flubbed, and didn't remove any material, so, my cut was about 2" deep, Machine's about 3". In a testament to his character, Machine graciously gave me the BK9. Thanks Machine, I owe you one, brother.

I wanna congradulated everyone on a good fair competion. Everyone tried their hardest, and the winners got some good steel for their efforts.

I also want to Thank Ethan and Kabar for their donation of the fine blades that were used and given away here, they are some of the finest people and blade in the world today.

Thanks to ya'll as well, and remember, the Spring Gathering is in the works.

Moose

 

[Carolina River Rat]

Good stuff, Moose.

 

[Don M]

Thanks, Moose, for putting this together. I would like to have camped the evening, but the wife is recovering from major surgery and I was fortunate to get away as much as I did. And yes, I made it to the wedding reception. Maybe next time I will be able to spend more time there, and more folks will hear of it and attend.

Thanks to Ethan and Kabar for the BK2, it is one seriously heavy duty blade. It went through that knotty oak without trouble.

And thanks to Mist for not showing up for the fire making contest.

Sarah had a good time and is proud of that knife.

 

[dingobubba]

Looked like a good time by all! Awesome donations too.

 

[Don M]

Moose - I forgot - wasn't there a picture of your wife you were going to post here?

 

[machine26]

YW moose, and thank you for putting on a gathering such as this. Was great meeting all you guys, and winning a spiffy knife.

Ive already added a pouch with survival kit in it(including the tobacco tin from tim the slugman, Ill be putting a lil review up in WSS soon)

 

[Bladite]

sweet camping trip

always good to see Hennessey Hammocks in use


Bladite

 

[Moosez45]

Oh damn, I forgot the most important photo, the Knif Pron, my bad, its been hectic this week. Moose

 

[Bladite]

for the shavings contest - i wonder if a chest cross draw technique would be more effective leverage/strength wise? also pretty safe. mmm!


Bladite

 

[wuhungsix]

in the family photo above the BK3 looks a little sad and left out.

 

[Bladite]

in the family photo above the BK3 looks a little sad and left out.

sad? it's chill-axing


Bladite

 

[dogboye]

The Chop- Take a BK9 and take 10 strokes on a poplar log. The deepest cut wins.
Next up, Machine26

Like the Glock.

What is the piece of camp cookware in the foreground, between the canteen and the Ballistol?

And nice pics all around. Lotsa knives there, and lotsa good practice, it looks like.

OH, and finally, whose the jeepster? Looks like maybe about a 2000 TJ?

 

[Moosez45]

That was machine26's stove and cookware setup, I believe it was a Coleman series, I'm not sure. Machine what was that?

The Jeep belonged to tim the slugman, and it was stuffed with food, knives and all kinds of gear. Slugman had the stuff for sure.

Slugman had some Johnsonville Italian Sausage that was the bomb. He done his cookin' over a squirrel cooker, something I have to get. In the pic with the dutch oven over the stove, you can see it by the pit. Awesome.

Moose

 

[MikeyJ]

Man, that looked like tons 'o fun!! I just might have to try and make the trip down if there's another event like this! I love a good road trip!

 

[Moosez45]

Man, that looked like tons 'o fun!! I just might have to try and make the trip down if there's another event like this! I love a good road trip!

We have already begun planning the Spring ETSG. We have a location and sponsors, so, now, the devil's in the details. I will be posting more about it as it gets closer. Hope to see ya'll there. Moose

 

[dogboye]

That was machine26's stove and cookware setup, I believe it was a Coleman series, I'm not sure. Machine what was that?

The Jeep belonged to tim the slugman, and it was stuffed with food, knives and all kinds of gear. Slugman had the stuff for sure.

Slugman had some Johnsonville Italian Sausage that was the bomb. He done his cookin' over a squirrel cooker, something I have to get. In the pic with the dutch oven over the stove, you can see it by the pit. Awesome.

Moose

Cool. Thanks for the info, Moose. I'm always on the lookout for neat, efficient cook set-ups. I always overpack, so I like to have a light a set-up for something as possible.

 

[pietje]

be a lil more carfull the next time dude!! This is a cm away from screwing up a nice camping trip like this one!

The angle of the wood and the angle of the blade towards it vs. you left arm lower down on the wood…..It might be the perspective of the camera but with this power chopping make sure you arms are out of harms (read ‘’knifes’’) way!