My Shelter System

While I was repacking some gear this morning I took some pictures of what I consider my shelter system. It's very simple, very light weight, and I'm sure some of you won't think it's enough.



(I wanted to take a picture of it erected but unfortunately the tent pegs don't go into the floor of my condo's balcony very well)

The whole thing packs inside the silponcho stuff sack and weighs less than 14 oz.

What's not pictured are my two trekking poles which are used as tarp poles if needed (28" at their shortest). The tarp is 5x8 and can be set up as a narrow A-Frame, single wall lean-to, Diamond fly, C-Frame and more using the poles and guy lines. Poles are nice but optional as the tarp has MANY loops all around the outside so can be suspended instead of propped.

Please keep in mind that this is only used when building a shelter from what nature has to offer isn't an option...or to supplement such a shelter. Also keep in mind that in a true outdoors situation I'm very likely to have a bivy bag and ground sheet to go under it.

I may still add a space blanket but carry one separately already. I carry it often in my shoulder bag so I don't want to make it any heavier if I can help it. Here's what you see:

• Integral Designs silnylon poncho tarp (because it's always in my bag I'm also always carrying some rain gear)
• 6 x 5 foot lengths of cord with glow in the dark tighteners already installed on one end of each.
• 8 MSR Ultralight Needle Stakes (7001-T6 Aluminum)

Looks like a good poncho. Have you used it as a tarp yet?

Nice, I'd save some space by leaving the stakes home and using
lighter cord. Then you could stick a space blanket or garbage
bag in the kit for more protection.

Clearwater: This stuff is light enough already...for me at least. I'm not gonzo about saving a fraction of an ounce...I just don't want it to be a burden to have to carry around all the time. There is space to spare. The poncho will crunch down quite a bit more than it is already. The garbage bag is a good idea.

The pegs only weigh 0.35 oz. each. The cord isn't standard paracord, it's much lighter, not milspec, and only rated for about 300 lbs. Instead of having just a bunch of cord in the bag, I pre-made 6 identical guy lines so that they're ready to go and so I only have what I need (4 normally, 2 as backup or if super windy)

Russ: I haven't used it for real as a tarp yet...just some tests at home. My REI minimalist bivy showed up in the mail yesterday. I was waiting for that to show up before going out and trying all the gear together for real. I'd have slept out doors last night but the weather here has been uncharacteristically warm (above freezing during the day!)

8x10 tarp setup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkBeZqXU4zk

IMO unless your hiking above the tree line or other places you can't find wood or stake substitutes I would ditch the aluminum stakes. Those spike stakes are IMHO just about useless if the ground isn't very dense duff or one of the few materials they hold well in.

In sand, gravel or most ground they pull out too easily. It is more weight but I have shifted to four ABS plastic stakes and whatever else I can find for a field expedient stake or hold-down. The plastic stakes have enough cross-section and toughness to hold well in a variety of unfavorable conditions. I once hammered these units into an asphalt parking lot and other than a little dark staining they are fine. They are also cheap. About $6 for six at Wally. I try to be careful that the longest, strongest, anchors or stakes, go where the highest loads are.

I did modify the plastic stakes by cutting two of the 9" stakes to 6", drilling out a few flats and cutting away some of the head and a useless hook. I might have just as well saved the trouble because I only removed a couple of grams. The 9" went from 29 grams to 23 grams each. I also cut off the handle on my toothbrush so the fanatical removal of weight is at least consistent. I have mellowed a bit since then.

To me the extra weight is more than compensated for by the vastly increased performance. If I'm going to carry something I want it to justify itself by working well.

For hiking a tarp, ground cloth, 2/3 length pad, and either a sleeping bag, with or without a bivy bag, or poncho with liner serve well for most conditions.

For short-term survival use I feel I could rough it a bit more and get by with just a small tarp, ground cloth, and poncho with liner which does well enough here in the SE for half the year. I could rig a bivy for the legs with a trash bag if it got colder.

I feel some compromises of comfort are acceptable if it is survival at hand instead of recreation. Of course if you want comport you could just stuff a Winnebago into your BOB.

If you are talking about those yellow "plastic" stakes, you have had much better luck than I. I have broken those things on buried rocks, tree roots, just hard dirt. As a camp host I have picked up a jillion pieces of them, so apparently I am not the only one. I always replace them with steel spikes, or aluminum gutter nails, with maybe fender washers to make the head a little bigger...

I spread out the tarp to do some extra seam sealing work I'd been putting off. Now that the Christmas tree is out of the way it was the perfect time. I took a couple of extra pictures while I was at it:




For being a 5x8 rectangle the poncho fits really well. The rear edge has shock cord running through it so you can cinch it up around your bum or pack. The face opening has similar treatment. The silnylon is so thin and light I can wear my Gore Tex hat over top without any issue.

Sexy huh?

Sexy ? duh ??

I have a poncho with somewhat the same design, but mine is NOT silnylon and weights about 660 grams (23.28 oz).
How much is yours ??

10oz. or 280 grams

Wow ! that's less than half...
I still hesitate to keep mine in my backpack (I'm in the process of reorganizing all my gear in my brand new Marauder...)

Pro :
- it's versatile : can be used as a poncho, a pack cover, a shelter, a pad to sit in it, a blanket to lie on in wet grass, etc..

Con :
- it is "heavy" ...
- I always have some difficulty to wrap it over my backpack (not easy to "throw" it over my head AND backpack at the same time....it usually stays on the top of the backpack !)

Maybe I should keep it for 1-day hikes during summer times and replace it with rain gear (pants + jacket = 430grams 15.16oz) and a silnylon tarp (HH original rain fly = 320grams 11.28oz) for longer hikes, in spring or fall.

Now, at 10oz ... I would keep it no matter what.

I agree - there is alot you can do with even a simple setup like that.

But I can't find any retailer in Europe, selling that poncho/tarp...

Hey, Hacksaw, what you say we exchange our poncho ???

Hmmmm...tempting...but no.

This tarp/poncho is made from very light nylon. It likely wouldn't stand up to serious abuse. I'll be using it quite a bit this summer I think so we'll see how it stands up.

Well... I had to try ...
Let's know how it fares ..

If it's not tough enough, I guess I should keep mine...

Anyway, I have found another piece of gear I can replace to gain an amazing 132 grams : my Nikon binoculars are 220grams and a Zeiss monocular is 88 grams only... at a mere 315€ cost !!

I have used the Integral Designs Siltarp and Silponcho a number of time in the filed with light weight bungie cords and it works great.

Bruce Zawalsky
Chief Instructor
Boreal Wildserness Institute

Now that you mention it Bruce I remember seeing yours set up with the pre-attached bungees when I took your course.

Do you remember where you picked up the bungee? I think I might try the same thing.

Oh...and welcome to the site! Your experience is MOST welcome here.

Nice set up! I would just replace the heavy cord for some
Kelty Triptease Lightline(tm)

It's lightweight stuff to be sure. 30 denier parachute cloth impregnated with silicone. It's super slippery and that must help prevent snags. I've never had a problem with mine though around here if the bush is that thick, you won't get a ton of rain hit the ground anyhow. I Nikwax most of my gear so it really needs to pour before I'll put this on as a poncho.