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I am looking for a super compact emergency shelter for the northeast. Right now I have it narrowed down between the Heatsheet and large heavy duty trash orange trash bag. Any opinions on which one works better?
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Super compact shelter
- Thread starter troutfisher13111
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I slept under a matchbook cover once. But that didn't work out so well. Although, my little toe was dry and comfortable.
Have a look at BCUSA M.E.S.T. Basically a 5x7 tarp. I have one it works well. They have a poncho version now too.
Also British Army Basha. Slept under one of them for years. Still have one.
Or have a look to Cooke Custom Sewing. They have some lightweight options.
I have used Contractor bags in the past with mixed results. No experience with the Heatsheet.
One of my buds used to use those storm window insulating kits. The ones you tape to the frame and heat with a blow dryer.
His thought process was, "reasonable" weather protection, and if it was nice he could lay protected and still see the stars.
Hope that helps ya!
Have a look at BCUSA M.E.S.T. Basically a 5x7 tarp. I have one it works well. They have a poncho version now too.
Also British Army Basha. Slept under one of them for years. Still have one.
Or have a look to Cooke Custom Sewing. They have some lightweight options.
I have used Contractor bags in the past with mixed results. No experience with the Heatsheet.
One of my buds used to use those storm window insulating kits. The ones you tape to the frame and heat with a blow dryer.
His thought process was, "reasonable" weather protection, and if it was nice he could lay protected and still see the stars.
Hope that helps ya!
mewolf1
Gold Member
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Dan makes the best!:thumbup:
https://www.warbonnetoutdoors.com/product/gt-ground-tarp/
Good coverage, can be tied off to trees or use treking poles to set-up.
Good coverage, can be tied off to trees or use treking poles to set-up.
You might also look into the Grabber All Weather Blankets. They are around 5 ft by 7 ft and are relatively inexpensive. They are thicker with reflective material on the inside. You can get just a regular size or they make one that has a hood and sewn in hand areas that you can put your hands in and wrap it around yourself. If you haven't totally made up your mind, it might be something to check out. Just go to the big river site and type in "grabber all weather blanket" and that should bring up the results. Good luck! 
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If you're talking EDC small and its an emergency not a planned time out, I've tested this setup in various temps. I carry
1 emergency poncho
1 SOL 1p blanket
1 SOL 2p blanket
2 hand warmers
2 foot warmers
4 6ft bankline
1 25ft paracord
4 marbles
1 hat
1 pair of gloves
Many possibilities with that set up, in its simplest form you can toss on the poncho and crack the hand warmer and sit down and get your arms and legs into the poncho and that will keep you non hypothermic if you got wet in the 60s or maybe wrap yourself in the 2p blanket as well. You can then start adding in pieces as need and environment dictated, if its raining and you have no shelter and no way to construct one you could use the 1p blanket and sit on it so you've got a dry place to sit and making sure to keep it inside the poncho so water doesn't pool around where you're sitting. The marbles, you can use one and a line to secure the blanket around you like a wool blanket making a matchcoat or a hooded cape or you can use them for tie outs if you decide to build a shelter as there are no gromets in the emergency blankets, you can also ditch them and find smooth round rocks but that may not be ideal given your situation. If you build a shelter put the poncho on and lay down on and wrap your self in the 2p using the 1p for the tarp and put two hand warmers under the poncho front and back to keep your core warm and the foot warmers for your legs. You will need to manage your ventilation/condensation as you do not want to start sweating and end up wet especially in cold or humid conditions
Just to give you some ideas of combos possible as I've tested those a couple times in varying temps, the shelter one was in the mid 30s on and off rain and I had the hat and gloves on while I was uncomfortable for 5 hours I wasn't hypothermic
If I'm hiking or want to run minimal its my MEST tarp, large MEST poncho, woobie, same cordage as above, 1p blanket, sea to summit nano bugnet and my reflectix sit pad, that keeps me warm into mid 40s as I use the poncho as the tarp as its 5x9 for more coverage, make an insulated bivy out of the tarp and woobie lay my core on my sitpad and the 1p blanket as the ground sheet I use the bugnet even when its cold as it cuts down on air movement to get some more boost and it keeps the ticks off me
I also for compact emergency carry have a piece of heavy duty tinfoil, bailing wire, a vegetable bag and fruit bag from the grocery store and either a leatherman squirt or bk11, the preference is the 11. I can collect water in the fruit bag and use the vegetable one for clean water as its a little more durable. You can shape the tinfoil into a cup or a box around the bailing wire to hold and hang to boil your water over a fire.
1 emergency poncho
1 SOL 1p blanket
1 SOL 2p blanket
2 hand warmers
2 foot warmers
4 6ft bankline
1 25ft paracord
4 marbles
1 hat
1 pair of gloves
Many possibilities with that set up, in its simplest form you can toss on the poncho and crack the hand warmer and sit down and get your arms and legs into the poncho and that will keep you non hypothermic if you got wet in the 60s or maybe wrap yourself in the 2p blanket as well. You can then start adding in pieces as need and environment dictated, if its raining and you have no shelter and no way to construct one you could use the 1p blanket and sit on it so you've got a dry place to sit and making sure to keep it inside the poncho so water doesn't pool around where you're sitting. The marbles, you can use one and a line to secure the blanket around you like a wool blanket making a matchcoat or a hooded cape or you can use them for tie outs if you decide to build a shelter as there are no gromets in the emergency blankets, you can also ditch them and find smooth round rocks but that may not be ideal given your situation. If you build a shelter put the poncho on and lay down on and wrap your self in the 2p using the 1p for the tarp and put two hand warmers under the poncho front and back to keep your core warm and the foot warmers for your legs. You will need to manage your ventilation/condensation as you do not want to start sweating and end up wet especially in cold or humid conditions
Just to give you some ideas of combos possible as I've tested those a couple times in varying temps, the shelter one was in the mid 30s on and off rain and I had the hat and gloves on while I was uncomfortable for 5 hours I wasn't hypothermic
If I'm hiking or want to run minimal its my MEST tarp, large MEST poncho, woobie, same cordage as above, 1p blanket, sea to summit nano bugnet and my reflectix sit pad, that keeps me warm into mid 40s as I use the poncho as the tarp as its 5x9 for more coverage, make an insulated bivy out of the tarp and woobie lay my core on my sitpad and the 1p blanket as the ground sheet I use the bugnet even when its cold as it cuts down on air movement to get some more boost and it keeps the ticks off me
I also for compact emergency carry have a piece of heavy duty tinfoil, bailing wire, a vegetable bag and fruit bag from the grocery store and either a leatherman squirt or bk11, the preference is the 11. I can collect water in the fruit bag and use the vegetable one for clean water as its a little more durable. You can shape the tinfoil into a cup or a box around the bailing wire to hold and hang to boil your water over a fire.
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now that I think of it and I'll have to test it I wonder if you could use an esbit cube with the tinfoil to boil it. I'll have to pick some up and test it out then you wouldn't have to worry about a fire or fuel for it, you could bring a little more tinfoil to make a winscreen too
Cougar Allen
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What do "1p" and "2p" stand for?
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I'm not themadindian, but I'll take a stab guess that it's an abbreviation for one person and two person (size wise).
________________________________________________________
Sent from my mind using Tap-a-Thought (TM).
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super compact emergency shelter - How small must it be packed? Maximum weight? Minimum/maximum coverage area? Emergency conditions?
I truly respect and admire those who use such minimal shelters and appear to succeed with them. However, weather and/or bugs usually made me less than comfortable.
Some good suggestions have already been provided. I use a Warbonnet Superfly (19 oz.) with either a hammock, an inner net with floor, or a bivy. The same can be done with various types of tarps. The most compactly packed setup I will use is a sil-nylon poncho with a bivy, but I've found that the tarp with net tent has provided significantly more comfort for the extra weight and space carried.
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By super compact emergency, I mean something minimal that will be thrown in my hunting pack and only used for an unexpected night in the woods.
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Thanks for the info. For me, that might be a small sil-nylon tarp or poncho (8oz) and an AMK SOL bivy (4-8 oz), for a total weight of about 1.5 pounds including four stakes and line. To save money (not weight), you could take an 8x5 AMK SOL blanket as a small reflective tarp instead of sil-nylon to reflect heat.
My cousin got benighted in woods he knows really well getting a friend's moose and was forced to spend a cold night out just a few years ago. It can happen real fast.
I carry a small non-breathable bivy like the SOL emergency bivy in my 10 essentials kit. It would make a miserable night out and you'd really need to augment it with balsam or pine boughs and leaves for insulation. But it will stop wind heat loss.
On most XC outings, I also carry a small tarp and a folding Emberlit wood stove.
@Leghog, how do you keep your bag from getting wet on a plain ground tarp when dealing with run-off?
500 grams is about 1.1 pounds.
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Hi. I always carry a poncho, a tarp and an emergency blanket. These are fine for my type of hikes today, on marked trails and never very far from a mountain hut or a manned bivouac. For me they work more as temporary shelter from sudden showers or pouring rain, which are frequent here in the Alps, in scenarios where, anyway, there is always the possibility to get back to the base camp or make it to the car, before the dusk . If given the choice, frankly speaking, today I would prefer to avoid spending a rainy overnight relying only on this gear as a shelter. It can work but would be not very pleasant 
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If I have the feeling something can go wrong when planning my hike (e.g. hiking on a never travelled before track, unmarked trails, very high gradients, etc.) and there is a concrete possibility I might end up spending an overnight, I go straight packing my bivy tent. Its a Ferrino model, older than this one shown in the link, but the concept its just the same. In one kg. weight it packs a great sheltering capability :thumbup:. Last time I use it, it was several summers ago, when I slept in it with no sleeping bag, just wearing the three layers of my tech hiking clothing gear and all went fine.
http://www.ferrino.it/en/catalog/tents/99066-tent-bivy
. If given the choice, frankly speaking, today I would prefer to avoid spending a rainy overnight relying only on this gear as a shelter. It can work but would be not very pleasant .
If I have the feeling something can go wrong when planning my hike (e.g. hiking on a never travelled before track, unmarked trails, very high gradients, etc.) and there is a concrete possibility I might end up spending an overnight, I go straight packing my bivy tent. Its a Ferrino model, older than this one shown in the link, but the concept its just the same. In one kg. weight it packs a great sheltering capability :thumbup:. Last time I use it, it was several summers ago, when I slept in it with no sleeping bag, just wearing the three layers of my tech hiking clothing gear and all went fine
.http://www.ferrino.it/en/catalog/tents/99066-tent-bivy
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This showed up in my youtube feed in that thing they've been showing lately called recently uploaded, the woobie caught my eye in the still they show for it, I've shared it where he talks about his emergency shelter/sleep system so you don't sit through the first 17mins if you don't want to. I don't know where I can get that forever blanket he talks about but I'm going to try it with SOL's utility blanket and see how it goes
[video]https://youtu.be/gdeq-ajutBI?t=16m59s[/video]
[video]https://youtu.be/gdeq-ajutBI?t=16m59s[/video]
Yeah, that's what I meant. Brain fart.
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Sure mine was heavier than that. It wasn't super light nylon and had more attachment options than anything else around. Great bit of kit though.