Overnight Shelter Contest CHAT THREAD

I guess a question I have is how many tarps disqualify it as a hand-built shelter? does the shelter part have to be natural (e.g. tree branches draped over a frame) or can it just be a frame draped with tarps?
 
KingMC said:
I guess a question I have is how many tarps disqualify it as a hand-built shelter? does the shelter part have to be natural (e.g. tree branches draped over a frame) or can it just be a frame draped with tarps?
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To answer, and I know it is a bit late, you can go as deep into the weeds as you want with this. Consider, you are doing this as a contest. The harder you make it on yourself, i.e. the more skills you exercise, the better you will do in the long run. Want to use a tarp? Awesome, you got some dirt time and made a shelter using stuff you probably would have on hand. Want to make a shelter out of only items you find in the woods? Even better, it is more of an exercise in shelter building and you will learn quite a bit.

Don't get hung up on the details with these contests, simply embrace the idea and skills behind them and go to it as much as you feel comfortable doing.
 
NixKustoms said:
That's awesome MC!!! Where did you end up going?
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We drove up 410 for a few miles past greenwater and camped off of FS73, just found an offshoot of the main fire road and chilled a short ways away from the car.
 
KingMC said:
We drove up 410 for a few miles past greenwater and camped off of FS73, just found an offshoot of the main fire road and chilled a short ways away from the car.
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That's awesome! Looks like it was fun. Hope it wasn't too wet up there for ya. Sunday was a nice day though.
 
W_nn_b_go

I'ld like to buy a vowel please.

Buzz kill, I know.
 
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NixKustoms said:
That's awesome! Looks like it was fun. Hope it wasn't too wet up there for ya. Sunday was a nice day though.
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There was rain and hail Saturday afternoon, after we had set up camp and had all the tarps up. Sunday was pretty beautiful all around.
 
I wasnt expecting to be the only one, I may have tried harder. Extending is an option if it means more people can join, I wouldn't mind.
 
I will talk to the boss this week and see what we can do.

As an aside, poor participation was one of the reasons we stopped doing as many contests. Seems like we got a buncha folks that is all talk and no action. Gonna have to find new ways to motivate you hooligans.
 
If you hadn't noticed I locked the thread and arbitrarily picked a winner. The one guy who did the thing, and we might send something to the guy that tried to do the thing but went home after calamity. That said, if folks wanna win the stuff, you gotta do the things.
 
congrats to the 2 who tried -- it finally stopped raining here, so I cleaned up the campsite and slept in my hammock last night.
 
Sorry, I talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. :(

April is probably the hardest month for this challenge where I live, winter would be easier. Every opportunity I had to try was 45 degrees and pouring rain. I am not trying to make excuses and really wish I had made something happen but everything just seemed to be working against me.
 
For entertainment purposes I will still share what I was trying to do. I might as well, I took pics. Hopefully it will add to the thread. At the very least there is Becker content. ;)

I made my own oilcloth tarp from a king bed sheet. I was gonna take it out and use my BK4 to build a camp setup around it. The tarp dried too slow and it poured rain every weekend. I also did a pillowcase for a drybag for my pack basket.

The tarp was made by soaking it in a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits. I got a sheet set on clearance at Walmart for $20. :)
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I used lantern wicks for tie outs and hand sewed them on with upholstery thread. I got this idea from someone else and it worked great.
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By the third one (the one on the left) I got a pattern going I liked. I went back and fixed up the first two after. They seem plenty strong.
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I thought I would dunk it in left over coffee to dye it. That didn't really work at all.
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After that I dunked it in the oil mixture and hung it over a bucket and wrung it out. I didn't wring the pillow case out as much and it is stiffer. I wasn't sure how "wet" to leave them and only time will tell I guess. If the sheet came out as stiff as the pillowcase I would not have been as pleased. I bet that in a pinch I could carry water in the pillowcase though. I am gonna try here soon.
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I then hung it up on the wood shed and let it dry. Since it has been raining so much it took like 10 days to dry but it seems to be dry and waterproof now.
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It has been set up in the yard for a week now getting hammered by wind and rain and all seems good. I cannot wait to take it out and sleep under it.
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