Tarp/fire Questions

[benchmadebob]

Can you have a fire in a shelter made made from a tarp. Like if i made a tee pee with a tarp would it melt? And if you have pics of your winter set ups that would be cool. Also will a plain blue tarp work for making shelter. Im on 20$ budget so am i limited to just a home depot tarp. Is there any shelter tarps availible for 20$?

 

[Scott Free]

Real tepees have liners that go down to the ground. The tepee cover goes almost down to the ground. Cool air enters at the 4" gap at the bottom and rises between the cover and liner. This pulls the smoke up and out the top. The native people of Siberia have a similar shelter that (as far as I know) does not have a liner and the cover does seal at the ground. I have no idea how the smoke clears. All this is just something to think about. Blue plastic tarps are cheap, bulky and noisy. They work, though.

 

[Thomas Linton]

If you have a fire that throws lots of sparks, you may have problems.

I have seen a metal container for teepees that stands on legs AND had a screen as a "spark arrestor." But the teepees were not made of plastic, whether blue, nylon, polyester or otherwise. They were made of canvas treated with fire-retardant.

Safer than a closed tent is a lean-to that allows to use radiation from a reflector fire outside to throw heat.

 

[siguy]

simple plastic tarps will work fine for a basic tarp setup, especially if you are going bigger. they are a bit heavy and bulky, but not all that bad compared to tents with equal inside volume etc...also much more versatile.

i have considered, but not tried yet, using a small fire inside a tarp shelter. the plan i have in my head would be:
-dig hole about 12-16" deep, about 8" wide.
-start fire outside of shelter and get a good bed of coals going
-bring coals inside, place in bottom of hole. feed the coals with small twigs to keep them from dying.

with a tarp strung so that it is a closed up room (you would need a larger tarp) will allow you to capture alot of warmth inside...just make sure you have plenty of ventilation like was mentioned. the trick is to allow enough ventilation without letting in alot of cold air...

remember that fire inside any structure is very dangerous and should be carefully considered. also, i suggest never sleeping with a live fire in your shelter with you!

 

[Darbyfett]

Id only keep a fire near a tarp if it was Flame Retardant Canvas

 

[Loosearrow]

Have camped for a number of years with a canvas tarp in a diamond fly set up. Small fire in the front and maybe an extra arm off one side to block the wind. Sometimes a set up with crossed sticks and two or three diamond flys faced to each other with fire in the center. Don't make a large fire.

 

[The REAL Commander]

Personally I don't like the idea of a fire under anything combustible. I have even had many holes made in a distantly strung tarp from all the sparks flung up by a fire, so I don't think a tipi style tarp would fare too well near or over an open fire. You best bet would be to have the shelter away from the fire upwind from it, with an open side towards the fire. If you need to direct heat into the tarp shelter, pile rocks on the opposite side of the fire pit, they will act as a heat reflector and radiate heat into the shelter. Also, you can always move hot rocks into the shelter if need be.