Testing the BOB

This weekend was quite eventful. Friday, I went to work, got off at lunch time and then went with TBQelite and The Shadow Walker to see Serenity(which I intend to rave about in a Media Review). It was a great movie.

Walker gave me a ride home and I packed to go and help out at a Primitive Shelter & Snare Merit overnighter for the Royal Rangers.

I realized that the camp out presented the opportunity for a timely test of my BOB out in the woods. I built myself a shelter using natural materials and the contents of my kit which kept me dry in the usual Western Washington drizzle. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to show off my 1337 pyrotechnical skill. I did however live off my kit food for dinner and breakfast.

In the morning while Dad and Gerhalt's father taught the snare portion of the class, Commander Kirk, Gerhalt, his bro and I played pinochle. Gerhalt and I were partners and we were soundly beaten. (170ish to 115ish).

After the kids finished their merits, we did a little paintball. The tragic thing was that Dad and I thought that the paintball portion of the camp would be canceled due to the poor weather so we left our gear home. If I had my own gun those n00bs would have gotten pwned.

Fortunately, Gerhalt's bro let me borrow his gun which unfortunately was plagued with terrible accuracy (more due to slimy ammo then the gun). Down to five rounds, I was forced to make a mad rush on the last two enemies in the tree fort. I got under the fort taking only a non-kill hit to the gun. Then when my team mates, who were completely out of ammo, drew the fire of those in the fort, I climbed half way up the ladder, stuck my gun into the fort and fired my last five rounds, three into the first guy and 2 into the other. It was immensely satisfying.

We had to leave early, but that turned out to be fortunate as a few minutes after we pulled out of the driveway it began dumping down hail the size of Jelly Bellies. I imagine the affect of said hail on those out paintballing was rather demoralizing.

That's what I've been up to for the last two days.

For those of you interested: My shelter consisted of a lean to against a fallen log, covered by .7 mil painters' plastic. I laid down a mylar space blanket over a bed of ferns to prevent soaking up water and heat loss through the ground. While my shelter was somewhat cramped it fulfilled my needs and kept me warm and dry during the night.

The applicable items from my BOB and my clothing:

M65 Army Surplus coat with extreme cold weather liner

Switchfoot T-shirt

Polar fleece pants from BOB

BDU pants

3 pairs socks (two from BOB)

Leatherman Multi-Tool

Wire saw

9x12 sheet .7 mil painters' plastic

2 heavy duty black trash bags

2 packs Ramen noodles

20 oz. bottle of water

Aluminum mess kit

There was some other stuff such as matches, firestarter brick, compass etc. that I didn't use and therefore am not listing.

Please note: I'm tired about writing BOB stuff for awhile and therfore the completion of my BOB guide will be delayed indefinitely.