Do Try Not To Die: Shelter Building Competition

The string of successes our brave adventurers have had has boosted their confidence to new levels. Tom and Jack are now convinced they are capable of not only, lighting a fire and surviving the night but that they could do it alone (and maybe better). And so! Our survival experts set out on their most recent challenge of shelter building. Having been dropped in the middle of deep, deep British forest our lads go their separate ways to find and build their own camps. The challenge: Build a shelter, light a fire, survive on army ration packs, film the entire thing and convene in the morning to decide on a winner.

It’s instantly apparent that our two bushcraft experts have different ideas on what would make the best shelter. Tom has found a clearing with two large trees close together that he figures he can make a lean-to on. Jack, on the other hand, had to trek for a while to find any space big enough for his idea. He eventually had to spend precious time removing dead wood and vines so as to make room.

Tom is the first to check in with the progress of his build. His lean-to is taking shape and lays out his plan to rack up as many large logs as he can around the back and cover the lean-to with, smaller branches, leaves and twiglets (not the savoury snack variety).

Jack checks in soon after having cleared the space for his shelter. Jack has gone for an A frame style shelter that has logs and branches on both sides. This style of shelter will grant better protection and insulation but will require more material and won’t be open to the fire.

Our young, fit, thrill seekers both realise that shelter building on a warm muggy day is sweaty work but no amount of dirt and sweat can deter these seasoned veterans.

As the shelters are coming together and it begins to get darker the second part of the challenge begins, the race for fire. Both men have Ferro rod strikers. Tom has a Bear Grylls branded rod he got for his birthday and Jack is using the same strikers used for the last successful fire starting. Tom is understandably nervous as Jack is the only one of the two that previously managed to light a fire with a Ferro rod. The boys gather all the equipment they need and begin…

Tom rapidly lights his birch bark with his new striker, learning from previous episodes and rapidly moving it into his prepared bundle of twigs. Jack has also learnt from previous episodes and lights his tinder in a ready dug hole. Once the tinder is alight, both franticly add more tinder and small twigs. The minutes tick buy as both budding TV presenters forget the cameras and focus souly on keeping their new-born fires alive. Tom managed to get his tinder lit first and so is the first to establish a self-sustaining fire. Jack takes slightly longer having struggled more to light his tinder and likely being less prepared with small twigs. Yet more educational material for YouTube.

Both men revelled in the success of their fire lighting, but who are we kidding, there was never any doubt that our seasoned experts would manage. After the exhilaration of the successful fire lighting dies down our resident Hobbits minds quickly turn to food. Tom runs through the ration packs that Jack bought on amazon the week before.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Heating-Field-Ration-Ready/dp/B007W1A0NC/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1524741236&sr=8-1&keywords=ration+packs

Jack starts to realise that his shelter is slightly lopsided but is too far gone now to do anything about it (besides, a lopsided shelter was part of the plan, it allowed for easy entry and exit). He rushes around in an attempt to find enough wood to cover his shelter before it gets too dark. In stark contrast to Jacks frantic attempts to finish his shelter, Tom is sat leisurely enjoying his food and camp fire.

Night has truly set in and Jack is really regretting his more involved shelter. His only solace is that, if it does rain, all of his efforts will pay off. Tom remains pleased with his easy shelter build and sits enjoying his spicy chilli as Jack finally finishes his shelter and settles down for a dinner of meatballs. After a sumptuous meal, the two tired adventurers settle down in their respective parts of the forest for a fitful night’s sleep.

Morning arrives and they still live! Jack is the first to wake and is pleased to find his shelter is still in one piece. The fire is re-lit and breakfast is ready cooking. Jack is full of confidence that he will find Tom shivering in a hole having not managed to build a shelter or light a fire. Tom awakes to a quiet forest with shelter still standing but the fire having gone cold.

Tom sets out to find Jack so that they can compare camps. Jack fails to maintain his manly bravado once Tom arrives having spent the night alone in his shelter. Tom is obviously impressed with the effort put into the A frame shelter and was pleased to have a fire to heat his hot chocolate. The duo then move to Toms camp where Jack is immediately jealous of Toms bed having had to sleep on the floor. Toms shelter is showing a few holes in the back but the open fire was able to keep him warm for most the night. Having had a rather cold night Jack bows to Toms lean-to design saying that were they to redo the challenge, he would likely use the same method.

The boys head back to Jacks camp for a mug of hot chocolate and to compare stories from the previous day. Who do you think won? Which of our heroes would you choose to take to a desert island with you?