Lean-To and Reflector

Looks awesome, I would have maybe tried to sneek the reflector in a little closer, but maybe it's just the angle, and of course any closer could also have meant the reflector became part of the fire in the middle of the night. I definitely like the use of no cord :thumbup:
 
good work! was it yours truly that spent the night? how much wood used? how was it comfort wise?
 
mtwarden said:
good work! was it yours truly that spent the night? how much wood used? how was it comfort wise?
Click to expand...

I did not a friend of mine wanted to stay in it. He had a sleeping bag but slept with it open. I think he used about 4-5 leg sized pieces of wood in one night.
 
Nice work. It looks like you folks were having fun. That's the whole point, IMO.

I must say I'm not a big fan of this sort of shelter unless it isn't very cold out. It simply doesn't provide much resistance to wind or bitter cold and requires great amounts of firewood. I've always found that I sleep more soundly in a debris shelter (or diamond or pup tent with a low end style tarp shelter) and don't have to expend great amounts of energy collecting and preparing a large amount of firewood. Not to mention the inconvenience of waking up with a frostbitten arse and finding you need to stoke the reflector fire.

If temperatures are moderate, it does provide a very romantic way to spend the night.
 
I was the one who slept in the shelter. Temperatures were single digits and I did use about 5 or 6 pieces of oak the size of my thigh for the night. I did get a good coal bed going before going to bed so that helped, I wouldn't start the fire as you decided to get into bed. Regarding the warmth of the shelter it was actually too hot. Compared to the debris shelter I stayed in when it was in the 30's this one was way warmer because of the fire. The back was to the wind and with the exception of one small hole that could have easily been covered there was very little wind on my rear. I had the sleeping bag opened completely and was half out of it until the last couple of hours when I said screw it and let the fire go. I only did this because we were leaving and I didn't want to carry over water to put out a perfectly good fire before leaving.

The reflector was as close as it could have been, the bottom log was starting to get charred and any closer would have caused things to get even hotter. Two things kept waking me up that night, the heat of the fire and the fear that I was going to spontaneously combust. Thank goodness I had a row of logs keeping me from rolling into the fire because I sleep all over the place.

If you haven't stayed in a shelter you simply have to. A big thank you to IA Woodsman for taking the time to help us with our shelters. He is a heckuva guy and a seasoned woodsman.
 
^ kudoos to you for braving it out :) I've slept in a debris shelter before (I've found a small candle does wonders for heat in one), but not in a lean-to w/ a reflector- looks like I better add that to the list of things to do
 
One week has passed and I wanted to see how the shelter held up. Remember that no cordage was used at all and it snowed about 2 inches the last couple days and started to melt today. Here are a couple of pictures of how well it kept the living area dry and free of snow. There will be improvements made to this shelter over time but I am waiting for Snow (member here) to come over and help me. He is going to sleep in it next.

Outside:
IMG_1995.jpg


Inside:
IMG_1996.jpg
 
It's great to see how dry it stayed in there. I'm excited to give it a whirl one of these days.
 
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