I believe that someone stabbing the canvas from the outside and slicing toward themselves will produce a pattern showing a cut from the inside. I also believe that a cut edge will fray if beaten by the wind.
This assumption was made by myself 13 years ago but I was ridiculed by 432 members or maybe just 2. Anyhow yes we dont see the holes made on the other side of the tent apart from this image and then only when its colourised. I wonder when the sample of the tent was taken as it sure appears it took a beating and then to be erected again.
The probability that pieces of the tent were used for bags to bring the bodies back to Boot rock seems quite plausible as the "rescuers" were mainly students.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sometimes common sense isnt all that common.
I could be misunderstanding the forensic tent report but there's obviously lots of cuts and tears and to be honest I have no idea what anyone was doing with it but allegedly it was dragged 600meters.
I think the argument about the tent being cut from the inside is because the tool being used to cut the tent did NOT cut the tent canvas . On the inside of the tent interior,It intialy scraped the dye off the weave , then started to cut the weave and then finally penetrated the fully weave . I think it's the start of the cut that the forensic team focus on and gives the clarity that some of the cuts were done by a blade or tool on the inner surface. 2 of the cuts suggest this .
However, that's not to say a searcher could be standing in a ripped part of the tent made earlier and put his hand inside the tent through an existing hole ( and there were many) , stab it from the inside and then pull it towards themselves.
The only problem with this theory (and others) is that you cannot stand up in this tent. As I have said in an earlier post you would have to be on your knees to have the power to cut the tent in one blow, a descent tarp would need a sawing motion. You would be having trouble with a modern razor blade type knife. I think the tent is a lost cause, we dont know enough about it.
Sorry , I have been unclear and it's not a theory as such. There are a number of ways to explain what I mean. A searcher that found the tent collapsed ( the tent is flat on the ground) could reach inside one of the cuts or tears or make a tear or cut , whilst doing so , they would step into the tent by stepping in the hole they made, the tent is not erect but still flat to the ground, the searcher could bend down and lift the canvas up to his waste , with one hand used it to pull the canvas tight against the erect pole or another searcher, he reaches in with his free hand that is holding a knife and press the knife upward into the stretched canvas , thus leaving the evidence and marks from the inside. ( Think of a sunroof in a car, you can't stand up in a car but you can stand on the seat directly below the sunroof and you are then standing in the car).
A half decent blade could cut a canvas tent and power is not a requirement, however, tension would aid in the execution of cutting the canvas ( think drum skin) , if the canvas is tight then it all becomes easier to penetrate and make a slice.
From the drawing in the casefiles , it looks like the two cuts from the inside are made from the entrance side of the tent towards the rear. If the rear 3/4 of the tent was collapsed under snow , then the 1/4 part left standing would possibly have tension in it for one of the hikers to cut from the inside .....or one of the searchers stood/ kneeled in a ripped part of the tent , pulled the canvas tight ( unless it was perhaps slightly frozen) , reached forward with one hand inside the tent and pulled the knife towards himself from the underside. No sawing motion needed.
The important part about the tent is the report about cuts being from the inside , it gives us an indication and a hint to why and how they left the tent . By following a base line for an explanation we can create a picture or sequence of events .
We haveTent pitched on slope in winter and snow , tent cut from inside , hikers walking down a slope with footprints left behind . Poorly dressed hikers indicating they had to leave equipment. A fire made with the quickest available dry wood source , ceder branches laid out at the ceder fire for insulation and a den built .
We have in basic timeline , leave tent , build fire and den .