Sometimes curiosity gets the better of me, and such is the case of wanting to try using a rectangle tarp to make a couple of tarp shelters that are best set up using a square tarp. The enclosed tarp shelter and the plow point.
The tarp is an odd size of 9.5' by 12'. It was purchased because it had loops and grommets. But, the loops were a tad small so I added some paracord loops to all of them.
I packed up a couple of backpacks and my wife and I headed over to the camp my buddy and I have on his parents property.
Set up 1, the plow point. This was a non issue. The rectangle tarp worked out fine and it was huge inside.
Set up 2, the enclosed shelter. This one didn't go so well. I first tried setting it up with the short side going away from the tree. This was a no go. This was to short and not useable. It left no space inside as the longer side wasn't able to be tied out properly. But when I rotated it so the longer side was from the tree, and then a few mods I was able to get a useable shelter. I did have to make a few modifications from how this shelter is supposed to be set up. I had to make two tie outs from the back instead if one, and I had to stale the bottom/point end in two loops instead of one. This set up also defeated the purpose of this shelter, having a floor. The loops are not properly spaced like on a square tarp, so the floor gets lost with the modded set up.
Is the above tarp set up a complete loss? No, if you sleep on the ground most people have a sleeping pad of some sort, so this shelter using a rectangle tarp is still useable, but I'd suggest just going with a lean-to set up, a-frame, or even the plow point since the rectangle shape nullifies the entire purpose of the enclosed shelter, the floor.
While I was fussing with shelter 2, my wife made a fire. I had to make a mental note here, I had only taken a small fire kit consisting of a lighter and a fire starter tinder. She wanted to use a ferro rod, so going forward I have to remember to always have a ferro rod when the wife goes with me.
I would normally at least make up some coffee while over there, but it was a little on the warm side, not hot, but warm enough that the cool water hit the spot more then a hot coffee.
I also decided to fell a dead tree in the camp while there. It was not very firm and I knew just pushing it over would do it. I don't recommend this, but I just saw no need to break out my hatchet when the tree was wobblier then a drunk on New Years Eve.
That was it for this trip. The videos are below.
