Holy shit i figured it out! thanks for all the help man. Now if only they wearnt so big lol. oh well easier for you guys to see. Any way so heres the story...
I have been all excited to go out an try this after i read the posts on here. My friend kevin agreed to go with and try out to as it would give us both a great learing experience. well saturday rolled around and we got a light dusting of snow in the morning and temps in the teens, but that wasnt going to stop us. We were all packed and ready to go when kevin got a call for a job interview,,, He had no choice but to take off and go to the interview. Well i figured i would sit and wait so we could go out to the woods togeather. Little did i know he got offered the job and had to start training while he was there... long story short he didnt get to my place till 2pm, meaning we didnt get to the woods till 3pm. Now this wouldnt be so bad, but its get dark and really cold by 4:30pm here in wisconsin this time of the year. We figured what better time to try to build a shelter then in the dark and cold, it forces you to plan it out. It was 3:30pm by the time we had hiked out to the nearly frozen pond we wanted to camp by. By 10:00pm We had a fully built shelter, a fire, and hot food in our bellys. Not to bad for a first attempt. When we got out there we quickly scouted for a small dip, something on the south east side of the hill to stay out of our bitter north west winds. We quickly began collecting downed logs, twigs, large pine bowes (only off trees marked to be cut down by the forest service.) and filled compression sacks over and over with dry leaves. We worked hard into the night to finish the shelter, all the time checking the fire to keep it going and under control. We used the leaves inside the shelter to push up against the newly formed walls giving both protection inside and out. We used a indoor/outdoor thermomiter to keep an eye on the temp. within the first 10 or so minutes it was already 32 degrees inside the shelter, now yes this is cold but it was 21 degrees out side, so it proved that the shelter could and was insulating heat! YES, we were relived we had done it, considering we would be spending the night in this shelter. I had left my camelbak bottle by one of the walls inside to test the temp also. I only left 1/4 water in the bottle, but when morning came it wasnt forzen, not only that but morning temps showed 26 degrees out side, and 49 degrees inside! Over all it was amazing, just to go through such and expeirence with a great friend. surly i got a story to tell for the rest of my life.
I am including pictures of the bulid process, proof of sleeping in the shelter, and proof of temps. Also a pic of the tools used to build the shelter, one becker bk9 (I wish it was a RAT 6) and a wyoming back pack saw. Also no live trees where cut down to aid in the making of this shelter, only some low branchs removed from trees marked to be cut down by the forest service. Any feed back you could give me on this shelter would be greatly appreciated. I think we did a good job and we proved it by sleeping in it, but you are the experts and i would welcom coments for improvment. Thank you for your time, and consideration for the contest. As i said befor i would love to win the knife, but it wasnt my main goal.
So thats roughly the jist of it all. Had an amazing time. we didnt take anything we wouldnt have on a day hike with us. I did bring my 5 day pack, but just to carry mine and my buddys sleeping bags and extra snowpants in case the shelter didnt work. i will start uploading pics soon, thanks to Joe fowler, i thank you for all the help. just gota wait till i upload all the pics to photobucket then ill pic some out. Thanks again guys, feel free to comment or ask me questions.
