Poncho Shelters

krissovo

It was brought up on the bug out bag thread about poncho's so I thought I would start a thread on them and share some of my tips and experience with them.

Poncho's are a dream when you need to travel light, they are probably slightly out of date now with some of the modern lightweight kit you can get but a very valuable tool to have. This thread is mostly about older style rain ponchos rather than the latest issue bivi sheets. They are almost the same but bivi sheets have no opening for a hood.

They have multiple uses and personally I have used them in the past as a:

a) Rain cover
b) Bivi shelter
c) Emergency stretcher
d) Sun shade
e) Fancy dress as Batman cape and hood........Not recommended
f) Wind break
g) Emergency backpack

If I was not so old I could remember more but you get the idea.

Ok here is a basic poncho:


Its one of the best bits of kit you can carry and best of all it will only cost you €10 or so. The ex British, German and US issue ponchos are almost identical but the build of each can vary differently. Ex British and German ponchos from the 80s and 90s were waxed so can be heavy, if you buy one its best to see what you are getting by feeling weight of a couple as a comparison. Modern ones are mostly all light but can rip easier so my pick is late 90's British, German or US.

To make a shelter:

You can google away and see possibly hundreds of ways to make a shelter. Most of them take an age to master or are so impractical that a simple wind change will have you cursing while you try and get snuggled up in bed.

Based on my experience the best shelter is also the easiest to erect and its the humble "Lean To" shelter. You can also sleep two if you use your backpacks as a pillows.



Equipment

a) Poncho
b) Approx 10 meters of rope, cord, paracord*
c) Two handy trees/fence or some poles/branches approximately 3-4ft high **
d) 6 inch nails, tent pegs***, twigs

* Lengths of cord, ideally para cord about 4 or 5 meters should be pre-tied to each corner of the poncho and coiled up neatly when not in use. Also have a coil wrapped around the hood for other shelter types.

** In my experience its rare to find the perfect bivi area with handy trees spaced nicely apart. Hiking poles are good if you use them but the best is the humble branch. When your moving pick up anything you find and use these for your poles. If you move to area with a significant lack of trees then carry them with you.

*** I use 6inch nails as they are part of my kit. Normal wire type tent pegs are next to useless. Tubular aluminum (from IPK shelter are perfect) is the strongest and light but can be bulky to carry. Twigs can work but not the most reliable.

Shelter Erection

1. Find a good spot, any ditch or dip in the ground eliminate straight away. It may keep the wind off but will soon have you swimming in the rain.
   
2. Layout your poncho, these are often rectangular. My preference due to my height is to peg down the long side but its up to you. Turn poncho directly into the wind and peg down on wind side. The poncho must be tight and the pegging solid!
   
3. If you have trees tie the non pegged side corners at a suitable height on the tree. As a general rule if wet or windy the lower the better. If you do not have trees then peg down the cord on the corners at 45deg with enough slack to put your poles in. Ensure your poncho is tight, is should sound almost like a drum. If its slack the first bit of wind will carry it off or will keep you up all night.

You have made your shelter! With a small bit of practice ( I mean very small) you will have this up in around a minute each time unless the wind is really savage.

Settling in & Tips

Once you have your shelter up, get the kettle on and plan your sleeping area.

Most people sleep lengthways in the shelter parallel to the pegged side , I normally sleep perpendicular (T Shape) with my legs out of the shelter. As long as I have my bivi bag my gear and my upper body are more important to keep dry and out of the wind. You can also sleep two with room for gear this way.

If the wind changes or the weather turns really bad then you can drop the pole and peg down one side really easily to keep it out.

Roll Mat/Insulation, I keep a very small roll mat in my gear. Its just about long enough to go from my bum to my neck to keep the important areas insulated (my head always has some for of pillow like my pack). I always work on the principle that my legs are not that important to keep warm and dry, certainly in our climate.

Hibrion

Another cool thing you can do when using a poncho as a shelter is turning the hood inside the shelter and letting it collect rainwater for cooking, washing, etc. It's a real time saver and you might as well put that rain to use. All you need to do is put a pot or container under it.

Grizzly 45

You can use the old Bundeswehr ones[the OD green version] clipped together as a team tent. four of them clipped together make up a rudimentry tent for four lads.With no ground sheet,and leaky as hell it is a most miserable affair ever.:(All it does is get you out of the wind and rain,more or less.Give me a one man bivvi bag/tent anyday.:p

Rew

Gortex bivi bag is a nice addition or can be used for sleeping on its own. Not as versatile as a poncho though.

Tabnabs

The Rolls Royce of bivi bags that has certain poncho characteristics

The Fjellduken https://jerven.secure.flexiweb.no/page/4430/

From the Arctic summer


To the German Alps


To winter shelter


To Afghan

Hibrion

That's a very versatile camo pattern

alanmcqueen

The Rolls Royce of bivi bags that has certain poncho characteristics

The Fjellduken https://jerven.secure.flexiweb.no/page/4430/

Thanks for that; geat bit of kit it seems. My google chrome does not translate the page though. Bugger.

I fancy this one:

http://www.jackson-sports.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7149&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_name=UnitedKingdom

Great spec as you can see but it can't be folded out to form a shelter which is a pity.. I'm wondering though could proficient tailor manage to modify it.

kildare.17hmr

wish i had a .50 cal stickin out frm under my poncho like the germnan fella!:D

Lost mine(or more likely it grew legs) last year. got it years ago in the RDF and it got serious use over the years, iv slept under it a few times, used it as a hide out on the ground, wore it at oxygen 4/5 years in a row:p Must invest in a new one

Grizzly 45

What!!! your 50 cal or your poncho??:p:p:p:D

bonniebede

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

wish i had a .50 cal stickin out frm under my poncho like the germnan fella!:D

Lost mine(or more likely it grew legs) last year. got it years ago in the RDF and it got serious use over the years, iv slept under it a few times, used it as a hide out on the ground, wore it at oxygen 4/5 years in a row:p Must invest in a new one

I've heard oxygen was a bit wild but didn't think you needed to be armed.:p even more worried that you lost it. What could you possibly be doing under your poncho/shelter at a souped up music festival that would make you take your eyes off your weapon? :eek:

mbiking123

In original picture, it appears that the hood is lying upwards, I would put it downwards just in case water dripped in

Some good info here-very interesting

kildare.17hmr

bonniebede wrote: »

I've heard oxygen was a bit wild but didn't think you needed to be armed.:p even more worried that you lost it. What could you possibly be doing under your poncho/shelter at a souped up music festival that would make you take your eyes off your weapon? :eek:

lets just say we're now engaged and have 2 kids

Rew

mbiking123 wrote: »

In original picture, it appears that the hood is lying upwards, I would put it downwards just in case water dripped in

Some good info here-very interesting

Normally you tie it up with the draw strings

krissovo

mbiking123 wrote: »

In original picture, it appears that the hood is lying upwards, I would put it downwards just in case water dripped in

The hood should be up, military spec ponchos have a water proof layer on the top side only.

Just a note on gortex Bivi bags, I went for spell of using just a bivi bag and trust me you need the additional wind protection from a poncho or it should be a hooped bivi at least.

bonniebede

love the picture of the guy in the arctic shelter. What's he thinking?

Hmmm.., wish they had sent me somewhere that was a real survival challenge, this was too easy....
Only eight months till sunrise....
Wish I'd kept the phone number of that girl from oxygen...

Rew

krissovo wrote: »

The hood should be up, military spec ponchos have a water proof layer on the top side only.

Just a note on gortex Bivi bags, I went for spell of using just a bivi bag and trust me you need the additional wind protection from a poncho or it should be a hooped bivi at least.

Yeah its not ideal but you can dig a shell scrape to get out of the wind if you stuck. Personally I use both bivi bag and pocho.

krissovo

Hibrion wrote: »

Another cool thing you can do when using a poncho as a shelter is turning the hood inside the shelter and letting it collect rainwater for cooking, washing, etc. It's a real time saver and you might as well put that rain to use. All you need to do is put a pot or container under it.

Thanks for posting, I have never come accross this one before so I have learnt something today:D

In our survival courses if we were short of water we would add a couple of pegs further up the poncho and have some slack to catch the water in a small dug out trench.