Monday, February 2, 2009

DIY: Emergency Tarp Tent


I am getting ready for an Extreme Cold Weather Survival Camping trip called Wintergeddon. A group of us are going camping in the cold Washington winter conditions. I plan to survive using methods similar to the stuff you see on Man Vs. Wild. In preparation, I am learning how to construct a temporary shelter out of a 8' X 11' tarp. Here is what I have come up with so far:

Design:
A standard sheet of paper was used to brainstorm ideas. The key objectives was simplicity, and space maximization. After folding the paper in many different ways. The following design seemed the most practical.


In this design, the tent floor consists of two flaps that can be lifted up to expose the ground beneath. This allows fire heated rocks to be easily buried in the ground under the tent to ensure additional warmth when sleeping.

Construction:
A 8-1/2 X 11-1/2 tarp will be use during this trip. To stake down the tent I am using 8" long over sized nail spikes. The spikes will be driven into the ground using the backside of my hatchet. The ceiling of the tent can be supported by a single tree branch, stick or painters pole, as seen it the picture above. The support can also be generated by tying the apex of the tent to a nearby tree, or overhead branch.

Hopefully this will suffice as home for a few days during my upcoming trip. Wish me luck!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

so how did it work foryou??? i've considered using the exact same setup myself, but the tarp i have is only 8x6 and while it covers my 6x5 tent okay for extra protection, it's not big enough to be a shelter by itself...

please update, as much detail as you can!!!

Unknown said...

The Tarp tent was awesome, it was much warmer than a mesh tent because it held in my body heat and didn't breath in cold air.

But use at least a 12' x 20' if you are tall like me.

Kevin Elliott said...

Can you do a step by step construction instruction on this type of tarp/tent or perhaps a video?

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