Can you take the cold???-UPDATED

[Moosez45]

Alright......here we go.

Ethan usually likes to save the outdoors shelter building contests for the "warmer" months. I'm a sadist, I like seeing folks suffer (if you can't tell.....). And since these are my box of goodies, let the suffering begin.

The premise is pretty simple, 24hrs in the outdoors.

Your list of equipment.

1 BKT knife
1 Emergency survival blanket
1 method of fire starting (Bic, Matches, Firesteel, bowdrill kit, etc....)
1 manufactured tinder (wetfire, cotton ball, wax ball, tea candle, etc.....)
1 pack of dry food (Ramen, Clif Bar, small can of food, etc......)
1 metal cup (canteen cup, Olicamp space saver, etc.....)
1 1 liter water bottle (nalgene, canteen, guyot, etc.....)
1 glow stick

Additional items you may take

Pocket fishing kit (line, hooks, weights)
Deck of playing cards
American Flag

Skills you must demonstrate

Build a shelter, better make it a good one.......
Build a fire, without fire, you ain't gonna make this challenge......
Locate a water source, snow counts, but you can't just eat it........
Make it a full 24hrs by marking time with a watch or other chronometer every 2 hours in your campsite. If you fall asleep and miss a couple, then, so be it.


NO CHATTING IN THIS THREAD!!!!

Winner will recieve a BK4, BK11 and BK13 as your prize, and there will be only one winner.

Must be 18yrs old to win, you are responsible for your actions, no one else. If you can't buy it, then don't break it. Be careful.

Suggestions:

Dress for the occasion.
Have a backup plan, use it only if you need to.
I would try to set your start time at or around noon, give yourself time to get camp set up and firewood collected.
In essence, we are working on the honor system, but marking time at 2hr intervals will help keep your short term goals in perspective.
Take only the items you have been specified, if you cheat, you are only cheating yourself.


Bonus: if you can manage to use your Christmas tree as part of your campsite, as either a shelter, or firewood.

To play, put "I accept." in this thread, then amend your post as your entry.

Questions will be accepted in the Q&A thread. Contest ends Feb. 1, 21013.

Moose

 

[maethor]

Thank you Shotgun, for your helpful advice. I'll give it a go.

I accept.

 

[Lobo13]

I accept

 

[Swifticus]

Is it okay if I bring vodka in my canteen instead of water?

 

[Awesom-o-4000]

I accept

Unfortunately I am going to tap out, real life crushed my dreams again

 

[RRR1977]

I accept your challenge. Do Frostbite pics guarantee winning?

I have to decline...work is interfering. Best luck to the rest of you.

 

[Hunter Sharp]

I accept

 

[gobblegobble]

I accept.

 

[NixKustoms]

Oh snap. I just realized that it ends feb 1.


I'm so in!

I accept

 

[Murphnuge]

I accept!

Edit to add my entry:


I started my time on Saturday (1/26) at 9:51am(23 deg) and finished at 9:52am() the following day. The forecast called for partial cloudy skies and temps of 27° for the high and 19° for the low. Before this started I figured that sounded pretty cold and not being sure about my skill level I asked a buddy of mine to come along as my photographer. He couldn't be there when I started, but arrived later in the day. Again, for safety sake and because of my lack of skills, I chose a location close to my folks place. My piece of property is the hill adjacent to my parents' place. There is a small creek that runs between the properties that I used for water collection. I drug our Christmas tree over on my way in, it was a huge help! It had been in our firepit since the day after Christmas, so it was good and dry.


As I do almost everything from my phone(fun!), bear with me, I'll do this in stages.

My gear for the challenge, minus what I wore and my condor bottle bag.

First time check with the BK10.

I lucked into the tops of some cedar trees being blown down when I arrived at "camp". One would be my shelter frame. The other would supply boughs for the shelter and be used as firewood.

My chosen campsite.

With one top locked in the crotch of the tree as a ridgepole.

A little further along, still some holes in the roof.

Still no photographer.

So, I worked to improve my shelter and get some firestarting materials ready.

Pat arrived at about 2:00 pm, just in time to follow me onto a water resupply about 200 yds away. I pre-filtered with my shemagh then boiled the water to ensure it's safety. I 've grown up around this little creek my whole life, but it drains from a pond about a quarter mile away. I don't dig turtle crap in my drinking water.

Had to secure my space blanket to the roof to act as a reflector. Since cordage wasn't on the list, I sacrificed my bracelet.

Then it was time to get a fire rolling to de-turtlecrap the water. For firestarting, I brought along my trusty bic and a firestraw. Can't beat 'em.

Time on deck.

More shelter improvement, mainly floor insulation.

Time to sacrifice thye Christmas tree.

Time for some coffee.

Pat had no problem reminding me how great modern conveiniences could be.

and dinner. Since I don't eat noodles, oatmeal will do nicely.

Missed a time check I believe.

Time check and temp.

About 3:30 am I awoke to the fire smoldering. This was pretty much anticipated because it'd basically been doing this all night. The only way for me to really get any real flameage was to stuff the fire with conifer branches. So I sacrificed some of my Christmas tree dunnage that didn't make the insulation specs. I tried sitting up outside of shelter with the emergency blanket wrapped around me like a poncho. This seemed to work. Keeping the fire stoked kept my mind off of how damned cold it really was. A space blanket may not keep you comfy, but it will damned sure keep your ass alive! I stayed up form 3:30am on. Pat wouldn't know, he was busy snoring in the tent I loaned him . He did mention the next morning however that the military sleeping bag system is a bit drafty(prick!).

Some of you may have noticed the green thing hanging on a lanyard near my shelter earlier in other pix. Well, that was an REI thermometer and it sucked. It stopped working at around 30 degrees, so I used my phone as a back-up temp gauge. I then decided the lanyard would be a great place for my chem-light. You know, to let passersby know that there was an idiot in the woods that night.

Like I said, the fire sucked! Everything was either too green or too damp. It all burnt eventually, but mainy just smoldered.

Mainly nothing exciting happening until about 8:30 am when Pat awoke. Until then it was just me, alone with my thoughts. A scary place I won't subject y'all to.

I survived! Seriously, I learned a lot really. I honestly knew how great the BK10 was before, but with a lamyard and by gripping down by the pommel snap cuts were very effective. It easily cut through the pine and other branches. I think I even have Pat considering a Becker soon.I really need to replace my space blanket soon. Immidiately following this attempt, I threw the one pictured into the trash. I've been toting that particular one around since OIF in '03. It was originally part of a vehicle mounted CASEVAC kit, so maybe it was just dry rot, but it was pretty fragile. We're already planning a small hike in March and he's even expressed interest in going minimalistic! Apparently sleeping bags, flashlights, a stove and tent are way too easy for him now.

So, after the clock signal finish we broke down camp and extinguished the fire and made way to the house to enjoy a small breakfast prepared by my mom.

I stopped in on 1/30 to check on my shelter . Basically it had stormed the night before and I wanted to see how I'd have fared. I'm sure I'd have gotten dripped on , but the shelter was 90% intact other than the floor insulation. I burnt that as the sun was rising Sunday morning.

Boss and Moose, thanks for encouraging me to get out more! Also a huge kudos to Pat for putting up with my stupid shenanigans and freezing as ass off right along with me(mostly).

 

[wrknives]

I accept

 

[brady.kevin07]

I accept.

It pains me to say this but life has reared her ugly head so i'm going to have to back out of the challenge. :grumpy:

 

[dresnor]

Beckerhead #143, I accept the challenge.



This challenge was awesome. I have been through a very scary hypothermic situation in the past. If it wasn't for my quick thinking friend that was with me I honestly feel I would not have made it off the mountain. With that being said I was a little nervous about taking on this challenge but I figured I had to at least try. Thanks for issuing this challenge Moose I learned alot.



My 24 hours started 1-12-13 at 12:45. I had planned on getting out earlier but life got in the way. This weekend in Maine was mild for January. Almost 40 degrees on Saturday with the night time low around 34. Light drizzle/mist with a small chance for rain overnight. I left a game plan with my girlfriend so she knew about were I would be and I agreed to text her every couple of hours to let her know I was fine. If I didn't text her and she couldn't get ahold of me she was to get help. I did not go very far from home so I could have walked out easily. I had plenty of layers on made sure to keep my cloths dry. I also had nice gloves and facemask to use if needed.

Here is the gear that I had with me besides the camera and little tri pod for self photography.

MSR cook pot, water bottle with water, Ramen noodles, emergency space blanket, Life+gear glowstick, fishing kit with one steel leader, some hooks and swivel snaps in the little baggie and 50 pound test spiderwire. One PJCB in another baggie, a ferro rod, magnesium rod with striker. My knife of choice was the BK-9 with an azwelke kydex sheath. This thing was a true asset. I had planned to bring a small American flag to put on my shelter but I forgot it at home.

Looking down the trail. You can kinda see the water droplets from the fine mist that was falling.

I found an area that had a good amount of dead standing trees for firewood and lots of conifers with great bows for shelter material. The spot I chose for the shelter was on a flat spot on a hill. Not too low to collect the cold air and not too high to be exposed to any wind. There was also some decent snow depth for water and a small flowing brook near by.

I cleared out a spot the best i could with my feet and a baton/digging stick I made as soon as I could.

Not having any type of cordage in the gear list I had to prop up the ridge pole in a tree with a low V in it and brace some sections for strength.

This photo also shows the foundation of my bow bed and the start of a fire reflector.

Most of the fire wood I collected I could push the dead standing tree over but some, like this one I had to break out my BK-9.

To avoid tiring myself out and trying not to sweat alot to keep dry I used the two trees method of breaking firewood to the right size.

In my travels I found this birch tree that have some great bark all ready peeling that i collected for tinder.

My shelter in progress. I also made an overhanging shelter for the fire that could have had bows added to it in case the weather got worse. With the bows off the poles above the fire made a great drying rack for my firewood though out the night. Before nightfall I had piles of firewood leaning against a few trees near my shelter and firewood behind my fire to dry as well as the stuff above the fire to dry. The larger logs I didn’t break to size. I just burned a 5 foot section in the fire until it fell off and slid the next section over the fire to be burned.

A couple hours in.

My shelter nearly finished and the firewood prepped and ready to light.

My shelter with the mist falling.

I used part of my fishing kit to set up a couple of snares. I noticed some Rabbit tracks while I was scouting for a location and figured I could attempt to snare one for breakfast. I used the spiderwire with the leader for this snare and two more with just the line.

I went back to my shelter because it was too dark and my glowstick/flashlight isn't that bright. I worked on my shelter a little bit covering holes and putting up the space blanket behind me for a reflector. I just tucked it in so It would not be a permanent part of the shelter so I could cover myself with it if I got too cold or it rained. I could also push it aside to let some heat out if I had to. The blanket did rip while I was unfolding it. I made a point to baby it after that.



My shelter with the fire freshly lit. I chose a long fire that was self feeding. This fire produced alot of heat. So much that I had to leave the shelter a few times to cool down and remove the bows from above the fire because they caught on fire. I had to get the fire really hot to help dry out the bow bed since it had been misting before I layed down on it.

The fire is going good in this shot. Note the small piles of snow to put out and little fires that threatened to burn my shelter down.

The bow bed wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would have been. The bow bed had some logs layed down on the ground and about 4 inches of bows layed out on top of the logs. I had a small log underneath the bed for support in the middle but I removed it later so that the heat from the fire could flow under the bed as well. This small change made a lot of difference.

This is how I took the photos of myself. Make shift tripod to hold the little tripod out of the snow with my camera attached to it. Using the timer and running back a fourth produced alot of bad pictures with me out of place. It got tedious after a little bit. I was starting to get cold and cranky.

Another shot of the mist and some longer logs for the fire.

Another time shot with my watch hanging from the ceiling of my shelter. The next picture shows to temperature inside the shelter. 60.6

I was getting really tired so I figured I would try to get some sleep.

I actually slept. I was betting that I wouldn't be warm enough to sleep. I passed out for a while and woke up when the fire went out. Over and over.
I never used the pjcb. I used the birch bark and my ferro rod or the leftover coals from the fire every time to start the fire. I didn’t want to risk not having an easy way to start a fire. I took time pictures when I could between sleeping and tending to the fire.

Not much went on during the night. the woods were really quiet. All I heard was the crackling and pops from the fire.

Two more time pictures on my way to my firewood pile after waking up with the fire out. I should have got more action shots of the fire making but I was tired and cold. Sorry guys.

I woke up to two Blue Jays screaming at each other. I tried to get a picture of one but they wouldn't hold still.

Picture just before I went out to check my snares in the morning. I got skunked. No rabbit for me.

I was feeling hungry to I started to melt snow to cook the Ramen noodles for breakfast.

This warmed me up and lifted my spirits. Note the melted pantleg. must have got too close to the fire.

Another time pic.

After I ate my breakfast I let the fire die out. I didn’t need it anymore. Then I hiked around trying to take pictures of any wildlife. Besides the Blue Jays nothing was active. I waited out the rest of my time carving with my BK-9 and trying to get used to doing fine tasks with a large knife. Besides having a few rust spots from putting it away wet the BK-9 did great. Plenty of chopping power, great for batoning, and stayed sharp the entire time. Long live the King.

Yet another time pic.

Waited till the fun was over. Man I was beat.

Despite the expression on my face I did have a good time. Thanks to Ethan for creating such great knives and thanks to Moose for having this contest.

Good luck to everyone else who enters.

Jeremy

 

[mseeker]

I am here finally, I am in the contest!

 

[gobblegobble]

I accept.

 

[gobblegobble]

IMG_2228.jpg

 

[gobblegobble]

IMG_2228.jpg

 

[gobblegobble]

OK, so I went out and completed this challenge from Thursday-Friday, January 24th-25th; however, as you all might have figured out from my abortive posting attempts above, I have not been able to figure out how to post attachments! I just paid for a basic membership to enable posting, and I will post about my experience with pictures as soon as possible....

 

[DerekH]

Here is a thread detailing how to post pics. Good luck!

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...Post-Pictures-Works-With-Any-Membership-Level

 

[kyturkey]

I accept.

Been planning on doing an overnight anyway, might as well try it minimal. I'll go Tuesday/Wednesday this week- in before the deadline.

I had a chance to go Tuesday 1/29 for my 24 hour stay. It was unseasonable warm which was nice except for the overnight forecast called for storms and high wind. Forecasted:

CHRIS ALLEN'S EARLY MORNING UPDATE
Updated at 2:52 AM, Tuesday, January 29, 2013
24-hour First Alert Forecast 270-467-0373

SLIGHT RISK for severe storms across most of South-Central KY early Wednesday morning
WIND ADVISORY tonight through Wednesday for wind gusts of 30-40 mph

Upon arrival

The minimal gear- BK11 (only Becker I own) glow stick, fire steel, PJCB, H2O bottle, cup, cliff bar, pocket fishing kit, emergency blanket, and some dry grass and cedar bark I collected on the way in. It rained the last two days, so I gathered all my fire wood/tinder up off the ground, that had dried by the wind. Also, since the rain was coming I took rain gear.

My main goal was suitable shelter from the coming rain and high winds. I decided on a spot under a couple cedar trees, where I could make a debris shelter that hopefully wouldn't leak. Keeping with the minimal theme I didn't want to use my emergency blanket unless I had to. It took about an hour and a half to walk in and pick out a spot.

Start of shelter

Almost there, this took a lot of time and energy to pack that much leaf litter. I knew I was going to need it though to stay dry. I was so concerned with the outside to stay dry that I skimped on the inside padding/comfort. I used my rain coat as a pack basket to carry debris to cover my shelter.

Next was to get water. There was a small spring flowing that I collected from.

Now a fire to boil the water to make pine needle tea

Couple strikes on the fire steel and we have fire!

Pine needle tea, this was a first for me- not bad

I used some vines to hang the glow stick around my neck, and I continued to gather some leaves for the shelter after dark. Found a flat rock to set the camera on for a self portrait.

Hanging out by the fire

Right after dark I heard an owl hooting and carrying on, and then shortly after eleven I heard a coyote howling. Squirrels and birds were the only wildlife I had seen up till this point although I did seen scat and tracks of other critters.

View from inside the shelter looking out at the fire

Man was I tired, I took about a thirty minute nap and boy did that help. The evening started out cloudy then cleared where I could see the stars/moon, and then cloudy again. The calm before the storm I guess.

I figure I napped maybe 30-45 minutes between each 2 hr check in. During the night my wife texted me about the coming storm, and what time it was supposed to get there. My mom even called to tell me there was a tornado watch till 4 AM. The storms hit shortly after 3AM with heavy rain and wind. I had planned to leave if it got bad enough, however it rained so hard for 10-15 minutes I couldn't have seen to leave if I wanted to.

I only noticed three leaks, two leaks went down the side supports of the frame, no big deal. I did have one spot drip off the ridgepole near my head. I was impressed and glad that was all the leaks. My shelter survived the night! I had also stacked some wood behind the shelter for some wind protection. ( on the right in this photo- hard to see)

Breakfast of champions

Realized I hadn't taken a photo inside so I crawled back in

Since I had rain gear I decided to walk around a bit, and walked up on that late night caller. This is the best photo I got-

It rained enough that water was flowing, I walked across this spot on Tuesday without any water flowing thru.

I walked down to Beaver Creek, which is where that water was going.

Had to find something to do, might as well play with the BK11, especially since I hadn't used it yet during this trip.

Other half of the piece I used and the finished spoon (my third spoon, don't think I'm improving much)

Final BKT touch

Final shot before leaving

Back at the truck ready to leave

Final shot of the trips gear (realized I left the BK11 out of the photo, it was on my belt)

I enjoyed the experience, and the confidence boast of enduring the storm in my created shelter.