Yet another contest.

It's obvious that you guys studied what needed to be done and took the time to do it. Unless you can get enough material on your nest then it will not insulate properly. I know you guys would never freeze to death around these parts if you got stuck outside with no warm clothes. And that is the whole purpose of this little contest. Stay tuned, we're going to ramp these contests up a bit after this one is over and give away more stuff. The more people get out there and compete, the more they learn!
 
Sounds great! Making that video was half the fun for me... I'm stoked to do another one.

Looking forward to it!
 
Oh, next time it may be something like getting a fire going after soaking all your wood overnight in water and only using a ferro rod and a small amount of dry tinder to get wet wood burning.
 
Even if I fail (which I obviously have some experience with ;)) I'll take the time to figure it out. Learning these skills in a safe environment and situation is definitely enjoyable. I'm grateful you're giving us the motivation to even try.
 
I'm improving mine thursday and sleeping in that night...I did mine originaly by myself and my wife came when I was done to take last pics it took around 2 hrs I think
 
I think this is a really neat contest, and I am learning even though I have not had a chance to try to participate myself yet. Before joining the RAT forum I had never even heard of building a debris shelter, didn't know the first thing about it. I'm trying to find a decent location somewhere near me where I can try to participate also, I know I'll learn more by trying it myself -- even though I don't think I could surpass the entries y'all have posted so far! I've got some sick days I need to use up before the end of the year, might as well use 'em up outdoors in the woods!

I have a little waterproof digital camera that has an intervalometer feature, set it up to take a picture every so many minutes, might be a neat way to document it if I can actually figure out to work it!
 
The best thing to do is research before you go out. I watched a few videos on youtube as well as "googled" a few articles. Take what's effective and when you get out there, take your time and do it right.

It is honestly not difficult, just take the time to do it right.

Even if you don't plan on sleeping in it, build it as if you were going to.

Every time I wanted to stop raking leaves I would think, "these guys are going to dump BUCKETS of water on me... I'd better get some more!"

I know, it didn't matter anyway! ;) But the point is take the time to do it right and you'll make a perfect one.

Here are the videos I watched...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myghxFyf6e4

(Make sure you also watch part 2)

And this one about building a door...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOlycK80Ng4&feature=related

You can do it! :thumbup:
 
darkwaters said:
I'm improving mine thursday and sleeping in that night...I did mine originaly by myself and my wife came when I was done to take last pics it took around 2 hrs I think
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Current shelter pics, so I know if I should continue please. :D
 
Do you have any idea how long you're going to run this? (mostly me asking if you'll let it go into December a little ways)

I'm devising plans on how to test it, but need to wait for snow and cold. It stays pretty warm around here along the coast, so the shelter I built would probably suffice for warmth. It was mostly to keep the rain off. It's been just raining for the last week and a half, I'm going to go back and check on a piece of paper I left soon. But the point of the contest was for warmth, so I want to make something nice and toasty in subzero temperatures. Because of all the rain we get, when we do have cold we have snow. So i figure it's a practical skill to build some kind of shelter with snow. Not a cave mind you, we don't get that much low down.
Current plan if it runs long enough is to "fall" into a stream, ring out clothes and gear and try and build a shelter before I ice over, Then spend the night if i make it that far.

And why are you guys carrying around tarps to help you build shelters faster? Isn't the fact you have a tarp a little self defeating with the shelter building? Somebody get creative and make an insulated tarp shelter.
 
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Munky88 said:
And why are you guys carrying around tarps to help you build shelters faster? Isn't the fact you have a tarp a little self defeating with the shelter building? Somebody get creative and make an insulated tarp shelter.
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As stated, there are no rules in this contest. If they want to carry a chainsaw, so be it. I am the final judge on what I feel is done properly. So, if someone uses a chainsaw or 2X4s from Home Depot then I may consider that and deduct points when it comes time to evaluate the shelters. But, like I said, Adaman and Fowler are winning this thing so far.
 
Munky, as Jeff said "there are no rules". I figured he would judge it just as he said in his last post. If two guys built basically the same shelter and one of them used a chainsaw and covered it in bags of mulch from Home Depot and the other built it with no tools and gathered debris, I figured that realism and effort would win, but who knows.

No tarps for me, not that it was against the rules. It’s not a debris shelter contest, it’s just shelter contest.
 
Complain if we have rules, complain if we don't have rules. I love this forum! :D
 
Is this the new Whine and Cheese on BF.?
When will the RAT Forum pom squad uniforms be sent out?
Fricken bunch of girls. (not that there is anything wrong with girls.)
 
Munky88 said:
And why are you guys carrying around tarps to help you build shelters faster? Isn't the fact you have a tarp a little self defeating with the shelter building? Somebody get creative and make an insulated tarp shelter.
Click to expand...

Why make a tarp shelter when I could just sleep in my nice warm bed next to my nice hot wife? ;)

The point is, if all I had was the shirt on my back I would have used that to collect the leaves. If I couldn't spare that I would have collected the same amount of debris because that is what's needed for it to be effective. This was not a survival situation, this was a chance to safely develop a skill.

Plus it was loads of fun! :thumbup:
 
I wasn't meaning to call foul, I was just wondering if there was a rational. what would be used as an alternative? just pile a bunch of leaves bear hug them and carry them over to the shelter? I'm curious as to what works when you need it to. Because if you do have a tarp to gather leaves would you build the same thing?

I've got to stop making ambiguously worded comments before bed time. It snowballs before you get back. Sorry :D
 
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