2018 April - Bay State Bending Bash - Don Cummings

[Donc101]

The first (hopefully annual) Bay State Bending Bash was yesterday.  My body is beat up and tired today.  I was so excited for this contest when it was announced.  There has not been a bending only comp since Beast in the East.  I think the last one was in 2012.  I had high expectations for the comp and Kevin (@KRC ) exceeded my expectations.  He put a lot of time and effort into the competition and it showed.  He had a ton of rated drill rod for the unbraced portion.   Adam Junker made the rig to rate the steel.  It was a cool setup.  I think Adam can make about anything he puts his mind to.  Kevin had all of the rated steel in individual bins with the size of the drill rod and the rating listed on the bin.  Very organized.  The comp day weather was gorgeous.  Kevin lives in a sort of rural area with a big yard and lots of huge trees.  A nice location and setting to destroy some steel.  We were mainly in Kevin's garage and drive way. It was fun to see old friends and meet new ones at the beginning and talk for awhile.  Then it was time to get bending done.

All unbraced bending was done in iron mind pads with a 1 min. time limit.

First up was the double overhand bending.  I did the 500lb bar to start in 15 seconds.  There was a big jump to 630lbs for the next bar up.  I did that 630 bar for my other attempt to see what I could do to it.  I put every ounce of effort I had into the bar and almost tore my hand open.  It moved about 5 degrees.  I was happy with the small kink I put in it.

Next was double underhand.  I was happy with my best bar, the 425lb rated bar.  Carl Donati did the same bar, but faster than me.

On reverse, my best bar was the 360lb bar.  My last attempt, I tried either a 390 or 405 bar, I can't remember which. I need to ask Kevin.  I put about a 25 degree kink in the bar and was happy with that.

Neal Bakerlis looked great on double underhand and reverse.  He has a big future in both if he does some focused work on them.  He has huge forearms and turned on a switch when he went after a bar.  You could see it in his eyes.

After the unbraced portion, we had lunch. Bill LePage brought the food and grilled up lunch. It was terrific.  I had a venison burger with pepper jack cheese.  Maybe the best venison burger I have ever had.  He also grilled a venison back strap that was wrapped in bacon and had a great seasoning.  Delicious! Thanks Bill.

Then we started the braced portion.  The hardest bar was 5/8 x 26".  I have done shorter than that before, so I knew speed was what I needed to work on.  I had done that bar in 27 seconds in training and was able to do it in 25 seconds at the contest.  It was fun to watch everyone bend braced.  It was probably my favorite portion to watch and give pointers on. 

The brutal snap was last.  Kevin and I did the shortest bar, the 14" x 3/8.  He took first in this event and I was second.  The snap was fun to watch too. It is so brutal on people.  Anton's performance was probably the most memorable, as he was very vocal and lots of colorful language was used to give him extra strength. Ha ha. There was good determination by everyone on this with some people continuing past the 5 minute time limit just so that they could beat the bar.

After the brutal snap, Carl pulled out 2 horseshoes.  We each bent one.  Shoes are even more fun to bend when your body is already trashed.

Nate took all the photos and video, so hopefully he posts them soon.

Lots of fun afterwards with hanging out, telling stories, drinking beers and smoking cigars.

Great day! I had so much fun! Thanks to Kevin and everyone who came.  I really hope there is another one next year.  I am in 110%!

 

Don

 

[Donc101]

This is the 630 lb drill rod bar with a small kink, the 5/8 x 26” hrs in 25 sec. bar and the SCF Lite Rim #1 horseshoe.

[Donc101]

2 of the photos Nate took. It is awesome that he documented everything so well!