- Joined
- Jan 4, 2013
- Messages
- 62
Great, thanks!
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Can you take the cold???-UPDATED
- Thread starter Moosez45
- Start date
Great, thanks!
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2013
- Messages
- 62
At long last, and thanks to some help from others on the forum with the how-to of posting photos, here is my entry into the contest...Before I get started though, congrats to Dresnor for an awesome and inspirational performance. That was excellent work!
I completed this challenge from 12:19 pm on Thursday, 24 January through 12:21 on Friday, 25 January.
I'd never built a shelter by myself like this before, and had only solo camped once before, so it was a new experience for me. Weather had turned very cold here in SW Ohio (temps topped out at around 25 on the first afternoon, and got down to probably the high teens that night). Despite the cold, and the ongoing tingling sensation in some of my toes and fingers, I had a good time and enjoyed the process! My campsite was located in East Fork State Park, at one of their backpacking campsites. I'd stayed there once before, but that was in May and with a tent, etc. Anyway, on to the pictures....
Here is my gear; I printed the instructions and brought them along (that's in the lower left corner); dinner was a pack of chili-flavored ramen, and of course the knife I selected was the BK-7 (I decided to leave the Eskabar at home). The Altoids tin held the fishing kit. In the top right corner are two pill canisters; one contained prescription meds, the other contained one pj-soaked cotton ball. As you can see, I also took to heart the permission to bring along some tea/coffee. The backpack was of course used for transport, but was otherwise not used during this challenge (i.e., for shelter, sitting on, etc.). The American flag was already in the car.
And here is my "contraband" gear; in the ziplock bag is a Bible and a few scans from the Book of Common Prayer, both of which I brought along for devotional purposes, and both of which I used. The other gear is of course a flashlight, a compass, and a 20-degree mummy bag; these were brought along only as emergency items (e.g., the flashlight and compass might be handy for an emergency midnight departure), but they were never used during the contest.
Of course, I also brought a camera, camera case, gorilla pods legs so I could take pictures of myself, and two stuff sacks to organize the gear (one for allowed gear, one for the "contraband").
I also brought along two Christmas trees, both of which were salvaged from nearby residences; the small one fit (barely) into my trunk, while the larger one had to be chopped in half with my BK-7 a few days before the contest, after which I was able to wedge it into the back seat. Gotta love the Taurus...
At East Fork State Park, I had a road walk of just under a mile to get to this trailhead; I stashed the trees, flag, and pack here, and then walked from my car. From this point, I had a hike of about 1/2 mile to the campsite proper, so I just carried in my stuff from here.
And here is the campsite after I brought in my first load of gear (it took two trips); you'll notice the picnic table and shelters, but I did not use them during this challenge. You'll note the American flag I brought (still in its wrapper) and a few pieces of firewood already at the fire ring. State park regulations permit campfires only in the ring (and the rings may not be moved), so I was a bit restricted in where I could build my shelter if I wanted to enjoy a fire all night!
Behold my water source, a frozen-over "pond" (more of a glorified puddle) at the campsite.
My first time stamp, taken once I reached the campsite for the first time. I continued to make trips back up the trail for the other Christmas tree and more firewood.
Since the pond was frozen over, I used a rock to break through the ice, and later a stick to help enlarge the hole.
I got so busy collecting firewood, accessing water, and working on the shelter that I let a bit too much time get away before my second time stamp, but here it is!
I saw deer several times during my time in the woods; since this was at a state park they were semi-tame, but still fun to see.
And here is my shelter; I used boughs from the Christmas trees for protection at the head and foot of the shelter, and for bedding (beneath the evergreen boughs I had piled up dead leaves). The main beam is a long branch I found back up the trail a ways; I used the BK-7 to trim some unnecessary branches, and dragged the rest back to camp. Although it looks like the flag is touching the ground in this picture, I confirmed that I had several inches of clearance between the flag and the ground. However, I have since been informed that I hung the flag up backwards! Live and learn...
Here's the shelter with the evening's firewood. Those of you who have done this sort of thing before may have already noticed that the shelter is located a bit too far away from the fire ring; I had to find this out the hard way
The BK-7 did well batoning of course:
Here is my fire just before lighting. I had gathered up some natural tinder (cattails on the roadwalk in, bark at the campsite, etc). I tried to follow Dresor's shining example of using only natural tinder, but to no avail. I could get the cattails lit, but could not keep them going. So, I used my pj-soaked cotton ball, and off it went.
Time for dinner! Unfortunately, I melted the plastic handle tab on my Stanley pot, but that's nothing a small metal ring won't be able to fix.
While dinner's cooking, I'll take a glamour shot:
Time to eat. Since utensils weren't on the list of acceptable gear, I whittled an eating stick with the Becker.
Of course, this contest specified only one knife; since I rarely leave the house (or my bedroom) without at least two knives, this took some getting used to! So, I made a quick spear and hardened it in the campfire, just in case I was attacked by werewolves or rabid raccoons. This proved to be an unnecessary precaution...
Once it got dark, I discovered that the light on my watch was too weak to show up well in photos, so I took timestamps with my phone instead. I should probably bill T-Mobile for the free advertising....
Here are a few pictures of the roaring fire I had that night. In the first one, you'll note the trunk of a Christmas tree (I used the branches for bedding/shelter, but burned the trunks).
As you might have guessed from all those timestamp photos above, this was not a very restful night. Not long after retiring to my shelter, I realized I had definitely built it too far from the fire! So, I wound up raiding some evergreen branches from the foot of my shelter, laying those down next to the fire ring, and spending the rest of the night there. In all, I estimate I got about 1 1/2 hours of poor sleep, but I survived. I got fairly cold at one point in the night, but for the most part, once I had moved closer to the fire, I stayed warm enough (at least in my core). As you can see from the second picture below, I had used the vast majority of my firewood by the time morning arrived. The third picture shows the rock that I used to help stay warm: I heated it up by the fire, stuck it between my legs, and held it there; repeated as necessary. This certainly helped, but as I discovered upon returning home, I apparently gave myself a heat rash by doing this...
Light enough for the watch again now...
With the morning, sleet and snow began to move in.
With some time to kill, I played a couple games of solitaire...
Please enjoy a few pictures of the BK-7 being awesome:
The final time stamp, taken with both devices for thoroughness:
The road home:
And, since I had the prudence and foresight to marry the best woman on earth, these were waiting for me when I got home!
Anyway, this was a tough but fun challenge, and I'm very glad I got the chance to do it! I'm looking forward to getting back in the woods, but maybe with a sleeping bag this time...
I completed this challenge from 12:19 pm on Thursday, 24 January through 12:21 on Friday, 25 January.
I'd never built a shelter by myself like this before, and had only solo camped once before, so it was a new experience for me. Weather had turned very cold here in SW Ohio (temps topped out at around 25 on the first afternoon, and got down to probably the high teens that night). Despite the cold, and the ongoing tingling sensation in some of my toes and fingers, I had a good time and enjoyed the process! My campsite was located in East Fork State Park, at one of their backpacking campsites. I'd stayed there once before, but that was in May and with a tent, etc. Anyway, on to the pictures....
Here is my gear; I printed the instructions and brought them along (that's in the lower left corner); dinner was a pack of chili-flavored ramen, and of course the knife I selected was the BK-7 (I decided to leave the Eskabar at home). The Altoids tin held the fishing kit. In the top right corner are two pill canisters; one contained prescription meds, the other contained one pj-soaked cotton ball. As you can see, I also took to heart the permission to bring along some tea/coffee. The backpack was of course used for transport, but was otherwise not used during this challenge (i.e., for shelter, sitting on, etc.). The American flag was already in the car.
And here is my "contraband" gear; in the ziplock bag is a Bible and a few scans from the Book of Common Prayer, both of which I brought along for devotional purposes, and both of which I used. The other gear is of course a flashlight, a compass, and a 20-degree mummy bag; these were brought along only as emergency items (e.g., the flashlight and compass might be handy for an emergency midnight departure), but they were never used during the contest.
Of course, I also brought a camera, camera case, gorilla pods legs so I could take pictures of myself, and two stuff sacks to organize the gear (one for allowed gear, one for the "contraband").
I also brought along two Christmas trees, both of which were salvaged from nearby residences; the small one fit (barely) into my trunk, while the larger one had to be chopped in half with my BK-7 a few days before the contest, after which I was able to wedge it into the back seat. Gotta love the Taurus...
At East Fork State Park, I had a road walk of just under a mile to get to this trailhead; I stashed the trees, flag, and pack here, and then walked from my car. From this point, I had a hike of about 1/2 mile to the campsite proper, so I just carried in my stuff from here.
And here is the campsite after I brought in my first load of gear (it took two trips); you'll notice the picnic table and shelters, but I did not use them during this challenge. You'll note the American flag I brought (still in its wrapper) and a few pieces of firewood already at the fire ring. State park regulations permit campfires only in the ring (and the rings may not be moved), so I was a bit restricted in where I could build my shelter if I wanted to enjoy a fire all night!
Behold my water source, a frozen-over "pond" (more of a glorified puddle) at the campsite.
My first time stamp, taken once I reached the campsite for the first time. I continued to make trips back up the trail for the other Christmas tree and more firewood.
Since the pond was frozen over, I used a rock to break through the ice, and later a stick to help enlarge the hole.
I got so busy collecting firewood, accessing water, and working on the shelter that I let a bit too much time get away before my second time stamp, but here it is!
I saw deer several times during my time in the woods; since this was at a state park they were semi-tame, but still fun to see.
And here is my shelter; I used boughs from the Christmas trees for protection at the head and foot of the shelter, and for bedding (beneath the evergreen boughs I had piled up dead leaves). The main beam is a long branch I found back up the trail a ways; I used the BK-7 to trim some unnecessary branches, and dragged the rest back to camp. Although it looks like the flag is touching the ground in this picture, I confirmed that I had several inches of clearance between the flag and the ground. However, I have since been informed that I hung the flag up backwards! Live and learn...
Here's the shelter with the evening's firewood. Those of you who have done this sort of thing before may have already noticed that the shelter is located a bit too far away from the fire ring; I had to find this out the hard way
The BK-7 did well batoning of course:
Here is my fire just before lighting. I had gathered up some natural tinder (cattails on the roadwalk in, bark at the campsite, etc). I tried to follow Dresor's shining example of using only natural tinder, but to no avail. I could get the cattails lit, but could not keep them going. So, I used my pj-soaked cotton ball, and off it went.
Time for dinner! Unfortunately, I melted the plastic handle tab on my Stanley pot, but that's nothing a small metal ring won't be able to fix.
While dinner's cooking, I'll take a glamour shot:
Time to eat. Since utensils weren't on the list of acceptable gear, I whittled an eating stick with the Becker.
Of course, this contest specified only one knife; since I rarely leave the house (or my bedroom) without at least two knives, this took some getting used to! So, I made a quick spear and hardened it in the campfire, just in case I was attacked by werewolves or rabid raccoons. This proved to be an unnecessary precaution...
Once it got dark, I discovered that the light on my watch was too weak to show up well in photos, so I took timestamps with my phone instead. I should probably bill T-Mobile for the free advertising....
Here are a few pictures of the roaring fire I had that night. In the first one, you'll note the trunk of a Christmas tree (I used the branches for bedding/shelter, but burned the trunks).
As you might have guessed from all those timestamp photos above, this was not a very restful night. Not long after retiring to my shelter, I realized I had definitely built it too far from the fire! So, I wound up raiding some evergreen branches from the foot of my shelter, laying those down next to the fire ring, and spending the rest of the night there. In all, I estimate I got about 1 1/2 hours of poor sleep, but I survived. I got fairly cold at one point in the night, but for the most part, once I had moved closer to the fire, I stayed warm enough (at least in my core). As you can see from the second picture below, I had used the vast majority of my firewood by the time morning arrived. The third picture shows the rock that I used to help stay warm: I heated it up by the fire, stuck it between my legs, and held it there; repeated as necessary. This certainly helped, but as I discovered upon returning home, I apparently gave myself a heat rash by doing this...
Light enough for the watch again now...
With the morning, sleet and snow began to move in.
With some time to kill, I played a couple games of solitaire...
Please enjoy a few pictures of the BK-7 being awesome:
The final time stamp, taken with both devices for thoroughness:
The road home:
And, since I had the prudence and foresight to marry the best woman on earth, these were waiting for me when I got home!
Anyway, this was a tough but fun challenge, and I'm very glad I got the chance to do it! I'm looking forward to getting back in the woods, but maybe with a sleeping bag this time...
Last edited:
CraftinOhio
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2012
- Messages
- 85
I accept
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2012
- Messages
- 534
This is an awesome contest! Digging the entries thus far. Would like to say I wish I'd accepted, but I'll just stick with I look forward to seeing the rest of the lambs..err contestants entries. Outstanding work, gentlemen. We all tend to think we can just go wander at will, this proves it takes some damn gumption. Yeah, I said "gumption".
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2012
- Messages
- 98
Here is my entry.
I went out on Saturday, January 19 and finished it up on Sunday January 20.
Here is the equipment I brought:
Emergency blanket
Nalgene bottle (with red duct tape)
Snow Peak cup with lid
Parachute cord bottle holder (made by myself)
G-Shock watch
Parachute cord bracelet (made by myself)
BK16 (kydex sheath made by myself)
Chicken flavored Ramen soup
Flint with metal striker
"Glow Stick" (I did not have a glow stick, so I brought my Fenix LD12 with an LED Diffuser)
*note: I kept the Fenix on the low setting (The low setting is only 3 lumens but lasts about 97 hours) to create a "glow stick" brightness level.
The Arrival time.
First, I started to build a nice, cozy shelter. I figured it would be easier to make a fire in the dark then build a shelter after then sun set.
I took a large, fairly straight piece of wood and stuck it in between two forked trees. Then I found a longer piece of wood and laid it on the other to make a "lean-to" shelter.
I then laid sticks across the main brace on each side.
Since most of the trees in the area were Poplar, the sticks I gathered had bark that you could easily peel off and use to make your fire. So each stick I used to make my shelter, I stripped the bark off of each stick and saved it.
I found a patch of Ground Pine and took some back to my shelter to lash the main sticks together. This would keep the main stick from moving around and messing up the layer of leaves (which is coming next).
This is one big difference between the little light-weight Space blankets and the tarp-like Emergency blankets.
You can push/pile leaves on top of the Emergency Blanket and transport more leaves faster than picking them up and carrying them by hand.
I piled about 7 loads of leaves onto my shelter for insulation...
And stuck about 2 loads inside of my shelter to keep my body off the cold ground (preventing loss of body heat through conduction).
Time check.
I found some pine trees and limbs that had fallen down earlier in the week, and used them for added insulation.
BK16 action shots
After about 45 minutes of de-limbing the fallen pine trees, my shelter now had more water proofing then before and the weight of the limbs kept the wind wind from blowing the leaves off of my shelter.
I also added some pine branches to the inside of my shelter to add more cushion to the leaves add more insulation.
I added my Emergency Blanket to my shelter to reflect my body heat+heat coming from the fire. To the left of my shelter you can see my supply of firewood, which lasted well through the entire night. In front of my shelter, I made a teepee style fire lay. Around the fire lay, are some "hot bricks" I found laying around. These bricks (or you can use rocks) can be heated and stuffed underneath the pine branches in the shelter or you can put leaves on top of them and sit on them (They can get waaaaay to hot to sit directly on top of). The big log in front of my shelter was put there to keep the leaves inside my shelter and also to give me a place to sit.
Here is my fire starting kit.
Two flint rocks
A steel Striker
Char-cloth
I found some dry, dead grass and made a birds net.
I struck the flint rock twice and the char-cloth caught one of the sparks.
Here is the Fenix "glow stick".
Inside of shelter.
The Fenix came in handy for taking pictures of my watch at night. The back-light only worked for the digital part of the watch, so I had to use it to illuminate the hands when it was picture time.
Another Time Check.
I found some wild grape vines and used it to tie my Emergency blanket to the cross beam and keep it out of the way.
Notice that this side is only twisted. The reason for this was so I could could easily undo it and wrap the blanket in front of the door when it was time to turn in.
Another time shot.
Warming myself by the roaring fire.
The blazing fire.
I missed the 0600 time shot, but that was during the only hour of sleep I got.
Morning Picture.
I had ran out of water and it was time to find a water source.
Behold! A small stream!
I collected my water from a small waterfall to get the cleanest water available. Moving water doesn't have as much sediment, bacteria, and other crap as say, a pond or slow moving parts of streams.
I placed some water into my cup and placed a lid on it. The lid would keep the heat inside the cup (speeds up the time it takes for the water to boil) and it would keep ashes and dirt out of my water.
While I was waiting, I carved out a pair of chopsticks since eating utensils weren't on the list.
I used one chopstick to pick up the lid since it was to hot to touch.
Chopsticks!
Even though I collected my water from a moving water source, I went ahead and boiled my water just to be safe.
Notice the three big rocks around the fire. These rocks reflected a ton of heat from the fire into my shelter, which came in handy for the cold hours of the night. Even after the fire died down, the rocks had absorbed so much heat that it still kept me warm during the early morning hours.
The morning sun.
This is some ash from the fire mixed with some water. If you needed to camouflage your face for hunting/stalking game, you could apply this to any uncovered skin to blend in with the ground (The morning hours were very boring
).
My "War Face."
BK16 glamor shot.
The Final pictures.
This was a good learning experience for me. Since I had already done this type of "camping" before, I had the basics down. As I was building my shelter I thought of things like "What kind of design should I use?" "How could I make this more water proofed?" and "What would make this shelter more comfortable?"
I had a lot of fun participating in this contest!
Good luck to the other entries!
I went out on Saturday, January 19 and finished it up on Sunday January 20.
Here is the equipment I brought:
Emergency blanket
Nalgene bottle (with red duct tape)
Snow Peak cup with lid
Parachute cord bottle holder (made by myself)
G-Shock watch
Parachute cord bracelet (made by myself)
BK16 (kydex sheath made by myself)
Chicken flavored Ramen soup
Flint with metal striker
"Glow Stick" (I did not have a glow stick, so I brought my Fenix LD12 with an LED Diffuser)
*note: I kept the Fenix on the low setting (The low setting is only 3 lumens but lasts about 97 hours) to create a "glow stick" brightness level.
The Arrival time.
First, I started to build a nice, cozy shelter. I figured it would be easier to make a fire in the dark then build a shelter after then sun set.
I took a large, fairly straight piece of wood and stuck it in between two forked trees. Then I found a longer piece of wood and laid it on the other to make a "lean-to" shelter.
I then laid sticks across the main brace on each side.
Since most of the trees in the area were Poplar, the sticks I gathered had bark that you could easily peel off and use to make your fire. So each stick I used to make my shelter, I stripped the bark off of each stick and saved it.
I found a patch of Ground Pine and took some back to my shelter to lash the main sticks together. This would keep the main stick from moving around and messing up the layer of leaves (which is coming next).
This is one big difference between the little light-weight Space blankets and the tarp-like Emergency blankets.
You can push/pile leaves on top of the Emergency Blanket and transport more leaves faster than picking them up and carrying them by hand.
I piled about 7 loads of leaves onto my shelter for insulation...
And stuck about 2 loads inside of my shelter to keep my body off the cold ground (preventing loss of body heat through conduction).
Time check.
I found some pine trees and limbs that had fallen down earlier in the week, and used them for added insulation.
BK16 action shots
After about 45 minutes of de-limbing the fallen pine trees, my shelter now had more water proofing then before and the weight of the limbs kept the wind wind from blowing the leaves off of my shelter.
I also added some pine branches to the inside of my shelter to add more cushion to the leaves add more insulation.
I added my Emergency Blanket to my shelter to reflect my body heat+heat coming from the fire. To the left of my shelter you can see my supply of firewood, which lasted well through the entire night. In front of my shelter, I made a teepee style fire lay. Around the fire lay, are some "hot bricks" I found laying around. These bricks (or you can use rocks) can be heated and stuffed underneath the pine branches in the shelter or you can put leaves on top of them and sit on them (They can get waaaaay to hot to sit directly on top of). The big log in front of my shelter was put there to keep the leaves inside my shelter and also to give me a place to sit.
Here is my fire starting kit.
Two flint rocks
A steel Striker
Char-cloth
I found some dry, dead grass and made a birds net.
I struck the flint rock twice and the char-cloth caught one of the sparks.
Here is the Fenix "glow stick".
Inside of shelter.
The Fenix came in handy for taking pictures of my watch at night. The back-light only worked for the digital part of the watch, so I had to use it to illuminate the hands when it was picture time.
Another Time Check.
I found some wild grape vines and used it to tie my Emergency blanket to the cross beam and keep it out of the way.
Notice that this side is only twisted. The reason for this was so I could could easily undo it and wrap the blanket in front of the door when it was time to turn in.
Another time shot.
Warming myself by the roaring fire.
The blazing fire.
I missed the 0600 time shot, but that was during the only hour of sleep I got.
Morning Picture.
I had ran out of water and it was time to find a water source.
Behold! A small stream!
I collected my water from a small waterfall to get the cleanest water available. Moving water doesn't have as much sediment, bacteria, and other crap as say, a pond or slow moving parts of streams.
I placed some water into my cup and placed a lid on it. The lid would keep the heat inside the cup (speeds up the time it takes for the water to boil) and it would keep ashes and dirt out of my water.
While I was waiting, I carved out a pair of chopsticks since eating utensils weren't on the list.
I used one chopstick to pick up the lid since it was to hot to touch.
Chopsticks!
Even though I collected my water from a moving water source, I went ahead and boiled my water just to be safe.
Notice the three big rocks around the fire. These rocks reflected a ton of heat from the fire into my shelter, which came in handy for the cold hours of the night. Even after the fire died down, the rocks had absorbed so much heat that it still kept me warm during the early morning hours.
The morning sun.
This is some ash from the fire mixed with some water. If you needed to camouflage your face for hunting/stalking game, you could apply this to any uncovered skin to blend in with the ground (The morning hours were very boring
).
My "War Face."
BK16 glamor shot.
The Final pictures.
This was a good learning experience for me. Since I had already done this type of "camping" before, I had the basics down. As I was building my shelter I thought of things like "What kind of design should I use?" "How could I make this more water proofed?" and "What would make this shelter more comfortable?"
I had a lot of fun participating in this contest!
Good luck to the other entries!
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 24, 2011
- Messages
- 3,790
Congrats gobblegobble!!!! Nice pile of steel headed your way for sure.
I think I'm still going to try this when the weather warms up a bit just to say I did it. We haven't had a night above zero in a while and my skillset just isn't there for me to try it in this cold otherwise I woulda done it for the contest.
I think I'm still going to try this when the weather warms up a bit just to say I did it. We haven't had a night above zero in a while and my skillset just isn't there for me to try it in this cold otherwise I woulda done it for the contest.
Murphnuge
Moderator
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2010
- Messages
- 8,420
I phoned it in directly to Moose. Called him at about 10:30 am and regaled him with my heroic saga of braving the cold winter's night wrapped in a yeti carcass. He said "Eh, sounds like a Saturday."
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2013
- Messages
- 62
Excellent! Thank you very much. Address inbound....
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2011
- Messages
- 1,448
Congrats Gobble!
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2013
- Messages
- 62
Thanks, will do!
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2013
- Messages
- 62
Thanks man, I'll plan on it! I had felt pretty good about my chances until I saw your entry, but I figured I'd give it a go anyhow