Disposable drop cloths.

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
17,674
I was painting my living room and I got some of those plastic disposable drop cloths to cover the sofa, ect. I thought they would make a great addition to a survival kit. What you have is a small pakackage the size of a slim paperback book, that folds out to a 9 or 10 foot square clear plastic tarp. Thin, but totally water proof. Very cheap ( about a buck) easy lean-to covering in a very small lightweight package.

You can survive darn near anything with shelter and fire.
 
i agree that these are cheap, but are pretty hard ot unfold, but a shelter coverd with this is about 10 times as water proof as without. you could cut this in half and use some of it as a ground cloth. i doubt that you would be able to salvage it for reuse, but hey its disposable.

i carry a siltarp poncho from survival sheaths, small compact but pretty strong. packs smaller than a soft ball, and reusable. jeff randall like sil tarps for his jungle trips, if they handle that rain they will do ok for my trips.

http://www.survivalsheath.com/shelter/index.htm

alex
 
Beware though, some plastics get brittle in the cold and more prone to tearing. But the idea is great !

David
 
how thin is the plastic? I remember my parents painting the house and using some cheap laydown plastic. I am not sure the durability of using that material. Its a good idea, but I would be hesitant to use it as your only emergency shelter sysyem. As a suppliment to some other more durable shelter piece is a good ide, in my own opinion. I carry and OR basic bivy in my BOB. I also have the option of carrying an equinox 8x10 silnylon tarp. I find a combination of certain items in a kit is a good way to do things. best of luck
 
I carry a small 6 x 8 foot ripstop nylon tarp in my daypack; folds up to fit inside a med. size ziplok-type freezer bag. Press the air out, seal it up and it's very compact (this also works for clothing, etc., when backpacking.) Very tough and reusable.
 
The plastic typically found in paint stores and DIY stores is anywhere from .75 mil to 2 mils. The 2 mil stuff is pretty tough and not as hard to unfold, but will cost a little more for a 9' x 12' section ($2-$4). They have tons of uses around the house as well as outdoors.

Thicker plastic (4-6 mils) is much stronger, but doesn't fold down as small and generally must be bought in rolls of 100ft or longer. This is awesome stuff to keep in your vehicle, though.
 
Some of this depends on where you live, here in the southwest, everything is bone dry and sharp. Rocks, twigs, brush ,everything tears plastic and the thin survival blankets, but for moister areas it seems useful.
 
True,, but its been proven time and again that there not worth the trouble it takes to build them. I once saw a Ray Mears desert show on travel channel and he only got a mouth full of water out of his solar still. He even mashed up cactus plants and put them in the bottom of the hole.
 
I carry a USGI poncho for such duty. It takes up more room, but is worth it.

Something to try with the drop cloth is adding grommets. It would probably require the heavier 2+ mil plastic and will make the tarp a bit more bulky to carry, but it will make the tarp a lot more versatile and maybe even reusable. In each corner of the unfolded tarp, add duct tape (if it will stick) on each side of the plastic and then punch a hole in the center of the tape. Add a couple more in between the corners on each side.
 
the drop cloth in 2 mill thickness works well for me on cold weather hunting trips far from the road makes a good shelter with a quick wood frame and rocks to hold the edges down a fire at the outer edge and this creates an areia that is warm and the smoke doesent enter to bad because it is air tight on 3 sides keeping the draft out also helps with the smoke .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top