fifteen or less challenge second year!

[Man of Tanith]

following on from last years success(of dubious virtue the winner i realise now) i would like to propose the same challenge once more
for those of you who don't know what i am talking about please look at this thread
rules/ suggestions remain the same

1) First Aid Kit and mobile phone are free bleeding out or being desperately in need of rescue isnt good and to do so for bragging rights and a prize is silly.

1a) camera is a freebie to prove you did it, if water is not available at your chosen location this is also a freebie, so is a firebox if open fires aren't permitted

2) As for clothing imagine what you would wear on a cold day going on a 1-2 hour walk so hat gloves good base mid and waterproof layers pants and boots/socks anything over and above is included in the 15

3) The best 5 entrants will be picked by Myself and then put up in a poll, the winner will get the prize.

4) Entrants would be picked on the basis of most done with least kit, ingenuity and sense of adventure.

5) The time limit will be until march the 31st to allow everyone time to get out and give it a go

6) Once the entrants have been picked the vote will go on for a week

7) Proof WE need a picture of all kit laid out and a write up of the load out. extra pictures of items in use will earn extra points

8) If you carry the kit for a walk first that gains extra points

9) Entrants need to stay out for 2 nights at least longer trips with minimal kit could gain extra points

10) Anyone using natural shelters and generally sourcing materials i.e cordage etc would get more points

11) If you're a smoker you are allowed smokes and so on for free if you use lighter for stove firelighting it becomes one of the fifteen

12) Food is considered one item

13)multiple entries are permitted

14) Have Fun!

15) stay safe i don't want to feel you put yourself at risk because of a silly game/contest on a website.

i have deliberately given it a while longer time wise this time to allow us to get permission from those in charge be it swmbo or hwmblt or work etc. i also realise that christmas is not the best time to try and beg time away from home to get to the woods.

please post interest in this thread and also your trip photo's and write ups in here too
this will make it easier for myself to find it all when it is decision time.

hopefully you will all embrace this as the bit of a laugh it is intended to be

looking forward to seeing submissions

Sam

[R3XXY]

I should give this a go this year as I usually use my PLCE bergen, so could be a real challenge,

[3333]

(of dubious virtue the winner i realise now)

Do not get this but im up for it if i get the time to get out!!

Is rucksack free?

[decorum]

following on from last years success (of dubious virtue the winner i realise now)

Do not get this

Last years winner has since been banned from the forum.
EDIT: And it turns out that he was you in a different guise.

Is rucksack free?

It isn't listed as a freebie, so no. Personally, I think a rucksack can be pressed to too many extra duties for it to be considered a free item; last years competition saw me press mine into part of my sleep system






Mind you, with smokers getting an extra 'free luxury' it would be nice for those of us not (or no longer) afflicted by the dreaded weed to be able to pack a 'not going to affect the competition' luxury too ~ nicotine addicts can have free smokes, how about freebie caffine* for the rest of us?


* Or just a favourite non alcohol drink.

[Tank]

well up for this again, just need to get the time to do it, my wife has started working weekends which is an issue to me but i am sure i can work something out.

[udamiano]

Yep I'm up for it

[rik_uk3]

Its OK, nothing to write home and tell the family about though.

[lannyman8]

ahhhhhh, mate, im working and for some time too...

things get bonkers in Jan with afghan training so even less time for bushey knifey stuff...

best of luck to all though..

[Man of Tanith]

one free non challenge affecting luxury seems fair to me

Mind you, with smokers getting an extra 'free luxury' it would be nice for those of us not (or no longer) afflicted by the dreaded weed to be able to pack a 'not going to affect the competition' luxury too ~ nicotine addicts can have free smokes, how about freebie caffine* for the rest of us?


* Or just a favourite non alcohol drink.

[capt.dunc]

i'm sorry i missed the 5 or less summer challenge, i joined the forum as it was ending. however i'm looking forward to this, my list of kit is almost done and i've got a couple of nights marked on the calender for the start of the new year.

[Gus1990]

Hopefully I'll be able to do this, i'm looking forward to it and all write ups of the other entries!

[capt.dunc]

13 items, packed with food (14), in a rucksack (15), back in a couple of days

[capt.dunc]

back safe, photos and write up to follow

[Man of Tanith]

excellent look forward to seeing them

[copper_head]

Oh I am in for this! Bloody great idea! Watch this space !!!

[Man of Tanith]

it just encourages you to think what you need rather than want to take
also encourages skills development

[copper_head]

Ok so it's fair to say i'm pretty excited about this !

So, been making a bit of a kit list and just wondered if I could have a check that im complying with the rules?

Free stuff
FAK, Phone, camera, cloths as per rules.

1) Food and water, in containers
2) Rucksack
3) Czech army bed roll (needs a test out anyway)
4) Tarp or poncho if i feel brave and ditch my waterproof jacket.
5) Roll matt for bed roll.
6) Knife
7) Ferro rod
8) Folding Saw
9) Billy can
10) Honey stove + Heximine (is that allowed?)
11) Head torch
12) Spork
13) Wash kit (tissue, soap, toothbrush, paste)
14) Map and compass as im walking too (is that allowed as one item?)
15) Most importantly Brew Kit!!

Going 1st week of Feb unless torrential rain.

Any feedback appreciated

[copper_head]

Oh and can the tarp include guylines or would that be extra?

[capt.dunc]

the kit
*1
fak, rucksack, sleeping bag, tent, 50m of string in 2 balls, fire steel, swiss army knife, pliers, tin snips, saw, thermos (half litre), wash kit (50ml liquid soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, half dozen sheets of toilet paper (in case there's no big leaves about)), spare socks and a spade. photographed on a wool blanket with my camera. food; tinned mince, tinned potatoes, tinned soup, tinned butterbeans, steak, polish sausages, mini babybell cheeses, two types of bannock mix, tomatoes, mushrooms, bananas, hazelnuts, coffee beans, sugar, lard and an egg. 2 items not counted, a torch in the first aid kit, a note book and pen to write stuff down for reporting back.

i was going with a friend, omar, who was trying to stick within his own 15 items, we had no sharing except from some water. i'd made my list back in december with a view to going regardless of the weather, hence the tent, and the aim was to make stuff as needed and finish the trip with more kit than at the start, we'd also thought of trying to make some rough and ready snowshoes which is why we took so much string.
*2
no last minute changes to the kit since the met office had issued a weather warning for our location, total weight 22kg.
as always we had a firelighting challenge.
*3
me making tinder from my string
*4
victory is mine
*5
a photo of the runner up
*6
the egg bound in moss for cooking, it'd survived the journey in and i wasn't about to risk taking it further.
spent some time gathering wood, and tinder for day 2, set up tents and before the light went made a candle from cheese wax and string. at this point it started raining and omar discovered that his new flask had leaked. there was no water next to our site so i gave him a cup full to save him fetching and boiling some in the rain.
*7
a can of soup with a spoon made from the lid, this was a bit of cutting to size, folding round a stone and sanding the edges. a can handle made of tied together birch twigs.
*8
sausage, mushroom and tomato kebabs for tea followed by a roast banana, then bed.
*9
*10
a cold wet night with gale force winds at 8am.
about an inch of water and mud everywhere in the morning, so a cold breakfast then pack up. it'd always been our intention to move between nights and we'd spent sometime discussing which way round to do both. site one had little water, but site two had loads. site one had lots of dry kindling, and site two little. by the time we got to our second site it was a priority to get a fire going to boil water for drinking, and in omar's case get his tent up to dry out a bit. the rain had stopped but everything was wet , the temperature dropped and the wind decided to swap direction every 30 seconds. cue the longest firelighting challenge ever. i won again, but didn't bother with a victory dance, i just wanted the water onto boil, it was now about 3 pm and it'd been too long on too little water, damn my generosity the day before. after that it was easy.
*11
collecting sand with my spade and top fly
*12
cord plaited from string, used to drag wood back to camp
*13
tin of spuds with a billy handle cut from the top of the candle holding tin lamp, lid left part attached.
*14
steak for tea, too dark to bother making metal tines for the fork.
*15
crushing coffee beans on a rock with the knife handle.
*16
setting the nuts to roast in a bed of sand, collected earlier.
*17
lighting the candle to go to the loo (the fag end in the ash is omar's)
*18
view from bed at camp two.

all in all a good couple of nights. we finished with more kit than we started with, and we'd cleaned and dried our first socks for day 3, we still had enough food and water to stay another day, but had to get back for work etc. never got our snowshoes made but spent some time clearing up an area where idiots had been drinking and burning pallets in the woods instead. stopped in dunkeld for tea and scones before heading home. the end.

[Man of Tanith]

copper head lines etc are included in the tarp as one item
Capt dunc. nice first entry like the uses of tin lids for spoons etc and top marks for clearing up the idiots mess

[Junglist]

Hi, just a little question, what happens when there's 3 of us going?
Are we to stick to our own items? I mean we won't build a fire each so do we need to take 3 firesticks if we're only likely to use one of them once?
If we need to take one each as we're all using the fire that's fair enough, just wanted to clarify the rules on sharing items as we've not done this before, great idea though!

[copper_head]

Nice report capt.Dunc, looks like a good trip, lots of ingenuity there!

Were there any of your 15 you didn't use?

[Man of Tanith]

Hi, just a little question, what happens when there's 3 of us going?
Are we to stick to our own items? I mean we won't build a fire each so do we need to take 3 firesticks if we're only likely to use one of them once?
If we need to take one each as we're all using the fire that's fair enough, just wanted to clarify the rules on sharing items as we've not done this before, great idea though!

i reckon that if you are sharing the fire only one has to carry a sparkstick but if you use one tarp between the three of you it is counted in each of your individual 15 or less items

[Shewie]

Inspiring stuff capt.dunc, I'm itching to give it a go now

[Man of Tanith]

Do it Rich
i'd be interested to see what you take

i might even be able to come up with a small prize for the winner but no promises

[capt.dunc]

for copper_head, i used all 15, and a plaster from the fak for omar. could of gone with less, the swiss army knife has a short saw blade which is pretty good and i could of cut and folded the cans by hand, but i decided that the risk of cutting myself while doing it with cold fingers wasn't worth it, besides the pliers could double as a pan handle and i just fancied seeing what i could knock up. i could also of left the spade but then we wouldn't of been able to dig over the area that we cleared. going without a torch wasn't as great a problem as i thought, but it was nearly a full moon.

for junglist, you could always do what omar and i did and carry a firesteel each, we each collected our own tinder and kindling then had a competition to light neighbouring fires. once we got them going, finger or thumb thick sticks then we merged them to form one working fire. that way we'd both proved that we could light a fire in the given conditions, and it's interesting because you can see how others approach the same problem.

we may do another with different kit before the comp ends.

[Rizouk]

Im in for this i think. Just need to prep a 15 or less list.

[Junglist]

i reckon that if you are sharing the fire only one has to carry a sparkstick but if you use one tarp between the three of you it is counted in each of your individual 15 or less items

Great thanks!

[decorum]

Copied over from the Rough Close Meet ~ January 2012 thread.


Done at the RC January 2012 Meet. Meet's are, generally, a time and place for a bit of comfort and luxury. Restricting the kit you take is about making you think about what you need without enforcing a regimen of mad austerity .





After taking pics of my set up and kit, I put the camera away and promptly forgot to take any more over the weekend .


Home for the weekend ~ pup tent used as a tarp. The small rectangular bag at the front of the shelter is the IPK's storage bag ~ it was utilised as a make shift kneeling pad.




Whilst setting up, my pack had its first real life water proof check . Dry bags and stuff sacks are stored in the pack. The FAC, gloves and hat are on the standard clothing and safety 'free' items.




Saw and Clipper knife on my sleeping bag. I had originally planned on taking my opinel saw but, in the end, opted for a full scale Silky 'just in case' ~ opi would have sufficed .




Food ~ I had based my plans around cooking predominently on the fire-box* and the Norgie was there to make sure that things didn't freeze over night . Stove was there for fast hot drinks . IPK ground sheet. The cooking pot has the advantage of having a lid that can double up as a cup. Also just visible is my kip mat.

* The ground is pretty much all leaf mold and, as such, ground fires need to be avoided. As all fires need to be raised and contanined, the fire-box is considered a safety freebie.




My Not-So-Purple UCO with spare tea lights in the metal case below it. Spatula served in place of a spoon. Dry food is stored in a lock and lock food storage box or leather clad zip lock bags.




Poncho (safety freebie) was definitely useful/needed for a couple of hours on Friday .




The weekend's water was carried in. Chair is a great asset at a Meet and some level of insulation is a great boon at this time of year .




Fire-irons were used to support the cooking pot. The irons break down into two shorter lengths. Not pictured is my lighter.




The fire-box is a French army surplus first aid box ~ out of pic is the lid. Box has been modified to make the lid removable. For ease and speed, the split logs were 'borrowed from the communal area's log pile.






The fifteen items were:

1. Pack,
2. Pup tent,
3. IPK ground sheet,
4. Roll mat,
5. Sleeping bag,
6. Chair,
7. UCO Micro,
8. Saw,
9. Knife,
10. Stove,
11. Cooking pot,
12. Fire Irons,
13. Spatula,
14. Food,
15. Lighter (not pictured).

Freebie/safety items:

• Clothing suitable for the conditions,
• FAK,
• Camera,
• The taps are normally switched off and drained at this time of year, so I'd brought the weekends water in with me,
• Phone,
• Fire-box.

Unused item(s):

• First Aid Kit.

Items I could have done without:

• Had I not needed to raise and contain the fire (the ground is leaf mulch) I wouldn't have required the saw.
• The UCO lantern is a nice thing to have supply light in the night ~ but is in no way an essential if you get yourself sorted before dusk descends into darkness.
• The spatula lives in the 'lock n lock' dry food box and although I could have fashioned one quite easily I chose the path of least resistance .
• The Primus stove was there for the convenience of fast brews ~ I could have taken a bit more time and done all brew ups on the fire-fox.
• Chair ~ although a log or the floor will suffice as an alternative, I am not enamoured of suffering a numb bum!

Thanks for looking.






So, who's next?

[Man of Tanith]

nice going Decorum
more i look at that pup tent the more i want one
i suppose i should really get my finger out and do the challenge myself