Derekh's thread about contests got me thinking a bit.
One of the amazing things about being a Beckerhead is that you get to participate in many different types of contests. These contests are designed to do lots of things, one of which is that they usually are trying to teach you a skill. The mods here (and other generous types) are often giving us prizes as an incentive to get our sorry rear ends out there and learn something useful.
I'm putting this thread together to get people to discuss skills that they have actually learned from these contests.
Heres mine:
Cordage making:
The urban challenge from this summer. I barely had time to participate, but wanted to try something that I had previously always been baffled at. How outdoorsy people never seemed to have issues finding or making cordage. I wanted to be like this. I looked up stuff online, saw Cody Lundin on "Dual Survival" pull it off, and then thought about how I could do it in an urban setting. I ended up using plastic bags.
First try looked like this.
I ended up getting about 12 feet out of 3 plastic bags. The cordage was about 1/4in thick, and stronger than I could break with my bare hands. I was happy with the result.
Fire Skills:
Last year sometime a contest ran about making fire. Now, I was a boy scout, I have been proud of my one match fires for years. I've made a few fires with a bow drill. I learned about Firesteels, and I wanted to learn them. I asked around here in the Becker forum, once again watched some videos, read some guides and purchased my first firesteel.
Sadly, while I tried a few times to get things going with a firesteel. I could never prep a fire well enough to actually light it with a firesteel. I almost wore a firesteel clear out practicing. I carved feathersticks on the front porch with my wife, I carved them in the afternoon on Saturdays. I tried everything. I did petrolium filled cotton balls, and then I finally figured out that I just needed more loose shavings (a pretty full bandana works well).
Now, my last 4-5 fires have all been made purely with wood, a firesteel, and a knife. I know dry grass/bark/etc would be easier, but I like learning to do it the "hard" way.
Not an image of a fire, but this is all I've got right now. I'll dig up others later.
Trap Making:
I also had a good refresher with trap making when I first started. I built a figure 4 trap (it had been 10 years since I'd last tried it, and I had to look it up again). It was a good chance to refresh my memory and work on it. TO be honest, I need to work on trap making again. I would say that food gathering would be my primary weakness as it sits now.
What about you guys. What have you learned from the contests?
One of the amazing things about being a Beckerhead is that you get to participate in many different types of contests. These contests are designed to do lots of things, one of which is that they usually are trying to teach you a skill. The mods here (and other generous types) are often giving us prizes as an incentive to get our sorry rear ends out there and learn something useful.
I'm putting this thread together to get people to discuss skills that they have actually learned from these contests.
Heres mine:
Cordage making:
The urban challenge from this summer. I barely had time to participate, but wanted to try something that I had previously always been baffled at. How outdoorsy people never seemed to have issues finding or making cordage. I wanted to be like this. I looked up stuff online, saw Cody Lundin on "Dual Survival" pull it off, and then thought about how I could do it in an urban setting. I ended up using plastic bags.
First try looked like this.
I ended up getting about 12 feet out of 3 plastic bags. The cordage was about 1/4in thick, and stronger than I could break with my bare hands. I was happy with the result.
Fire Skills:
Last year sometime a contest ran about making fire. Now, I was a boy scout, I have been proud of my one match fires for years. I've made a few fires with a bow drill. I learned about Firesteels, and I wanted to learn them. I asked around here in the Becker forum, once again watched some videos, read some guides and purchased my first firesteel.
Sadly, while I tried a few times to get things going with a firesteel. I could never prep a fire well enough to actually light it with a firesteel. I almost wore a firesteel clear out practicing. I carved feathersticks on the front porch with my wife, I carved them in the afternoon on Saturdays. I tried everything. I did petrolium filled cotton balls, and then I finally figured out that I just needed more loose shavings (a pretty full bandana works well).
Now, my last 4-5 fires have all been made purely with wood, a firesteel, and a knife. I know dry grass/bark/etc would be easier, but I like learning to do it the "hard" way.
Not an image of a fire, but this is all I've got right now. I'll dig up others later.
Trap Making:
I also had a good refresher with trap making when I first started. I built a figure 4 trap (it had been 10 years since I'd last tried it, and I had to look it up again). It was a good chance to refresh my memory and work on it. TO be honest, I need to work on trap making again. I would say that food gathering would be my primary weakness as it sits now.
What about you guys. What have you learned from the contests?
