# 9 ways to make a survival shelter out of a military poncho



## Carol (Oct 16, 2011)

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Found a link to this on a backpacking site.  Good demonstration.


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## jks9199 (Oct 16, 2011)

It's a good demo -- but the reality is that several of those shelters are going to be so small as to be pretty useless under most circumstances.  Remember, a poncho isn't much more than 8 ft x 8 ft when opened up.  (Some variance based on specific designs, like one with extensions to go over a back pack...  but you still need to be able to walk in it, and if it drops much below the knees, that's not all that practical.

Also -- most of these designs will work as well or better with an actual tarp rather than tying up your rain gear...


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## Cyriacus (Oct 16, 2011)

I prefer Tunnels.
For I am a Dwarf.





In all seriousness, there are some faults in this design. A Tent makes more Logical Sense. But I guess you have to work with whats available to you. And that may not entail sufficient Barks, Leaves/Foliage, or whatever else to make a Tent. The other Option, is to try and find some kind of suitable Terrain to shelter in. Like an Overhang, or a Space between Rocks, or somesuch.


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## mook jong man (Oct 17, 2011)

I'd just crawl inside a dead camel carcase like Bear Grylls.

If there are nine ways to make a survival shelter out of a military poncho does the reverse also apply , are there nine ways to make a military poncho out of a survival shelter?
I will leave you all to ponder that.


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## Cyriacus (Oct 17, 2011)

mook jong man said:


> I'd just crawl inside a dead camel carcase like Bear Grylls.
> 
> If there are nine ways to make a survival shelter out of a military poncho does the reverse also apply , are there nine ways to make a military poncho out of a survival shelter?
> I will leave you all to ponder that.



Yes, obviously.
I could make way more than 9 different types of bag by screwing with a Poncho.


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## Tez3 (Oct 17, 2011)

Cyriacus said:


> Yes, obviously.
> I could make way more than 9 different types of bag by* screwing with a Poncho*.



Really? Isn't that considered.. erm a little kinky? Even for an Aussie?


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## Cyriacus (Oct 17, 2011)

Tez3 said:


> Really? Isn't that considered.. erm a little kinky? Even for an Aussie?



I cant really think of anything Witty to Reply with


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## Tez3 (Oct 17, 2011)

Cyriacus said:


> I cant really think of anything Witty to Reply with



You will!


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## mook jong man (Oct 17, 2011)

Tez3 said:


> Really? Isn't that considered.. erm a little kinky? Even for an Aussie?



Leave him alone , he can't help it if he can't find a girlfriend.
Besides , screwing your poncho is a lot cheaper and you don't have to get it anything for Valentines day.


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## Tez3 (Oct 17, 2011)

mook jong man said:


> Leave him alone , he can't help it if he can't find a girlfriend.
> Besides , screwing your poncho is a lot cheaper and you don't have to get it anything for Valentines day.



:boing2:


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## Cyriacus (Oct 17, 2011)

mook jong man said:


> Leave him alone , he can't help it if he can't find a girlfriend.
> Besides , screwing your poncho is a lot cheaper and you don't have to get it anything for Valentines day.



Girlfriends give you STDs.



Tez3 said:


> Really? Isn't that considered.. erm a little kinky? Even for an Aussie?



This coming from a Female Brit whos Interests include various kinds of Grappling - Essentially, Hugging each other Combat Style. Isnt THAT Kinky?


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## mook jong man (Oct 17, 2011)

Cyriacus said:


> Girlfriends give you STDs.



What , Subscriber Trunk Dialling ?


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## Tez3 (Oct 17, 2011)

Cyriacus said:


> Girlfriends give you STDs.
> 
> 
> 
> This coming from a Female Brit whos Interests include various kinds of Grappling - Essentially, Hugging each other Combat Style. Isnt THAT Kinky?



It's a dirty job grappling with fit young men but someone has to do it!


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## Cyriacus (Oct 17, 2011)

Tez3 said:


> It's a dirty job grappling with fit young men but someone has to do it!


Yeah.
Grappling.

Im sure its just a coincidence that you keep this Grappling out of Public Sight!


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## Tez3 (Oct 17, 2011)

Cyriacus said:


> Yeah.
> Grappling.
> 
> Im sure its just a coincidence that you keep this Grappling out of Public Sight!



Hell no, I do it with squaddies, we're all exhibitionists. Incidentally they all take tents with them on exercise or sleep in their vehicles, not under though. A few years ago on exercise on Salisbury Plain ( where Stonehenge is) a squaddie couldn't be bothered putting a bivvie up so he slept under his tank, however it rained hard all night and the tank sunk in the wet ground, squashed him flat.


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## Cyriacus (Oct 17, 2011)

Tez3 said:


> Hell no, I do it with squaddies, we're all exhibitionists. Incidentally they all take tents with them on exercise or sleep in their vehicles, not under though. A few years ago on exercise on Salisbury Plain ( where Stonehenge is) a squaddie couldn't be bothered putting a bivvie up so he slept under his tank, however it rained hard all night and the tank sunk in the wet ground, squashed him flat.


So basically, now youre a bunch of Flasher Exhibitionist Fetishists, who live in Tents and do "Exercise" together, then sleep in your Cars? And occassionally sleep underneath Fuel Tanks, when its not raining?

Great!


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## MA-Caver (Oct 17, 2011)

Tez3 said:


> Cyriacus said:
> 
> 
> > Yes, obviously.
> ...


Well, those cute fuzzy soft koalas tend to have (very) sharp claws and aren't quite so docile as they seem.  



mook jong man said:


> Leave him alone , he can't help it if he can't find a girlfriend.
> Besides , screwing your poncho is a lot cheaper and you don't have to get it anything for Valentines day.


Amen on that. 



Cyriacus said:


> Yeah. Grappling.
> 
> Im sure its just a coincidence that you keep this Grappling out of Public Sight!


 Of course you wouldn't want secret "how to subdue a man to total submission" secrets to get out in the general public now would ya? Geez.  

Back to seriousness of the video. Thoughts.

These variations of the "shelters" to me... look like one and the same, just different configurations... or is that what makes them "different". It's the surroundings and terrain that will determine which way you're going to (be able to) set it up. 
Thing is you're still exposed to the temperatures of the area and while it may provide shade it'll hardly cool you down enough to make a (real) difference... particularly at night. If the poncho is all you got well, better than nothing eh? If so then best to wrap it around close to your body to preserve heat. Even if you got a fire going... you gonna stay up ALL night feeding the flames? This is of course after hiking all day wandering around lost, yelling hoping someone will hear you, climbing up and down over boulders or steeply sloped canyon walls, etc. 
The various configurations are good if you got someone injured and need to protect them from the elements but again, you'd better have something else to keep 'em warm. 

In the jungles yeah rain water tends to fall straight down, unless accompanied by monsoon winds (depending upon which part of the world you're in at the time. Same with mountainous terrain. An open faced lean-to may (or may not) keep the rain out. Make sure you got something to keep your *** dry while you're sitting under that nicely improvised lean-to waiting for the rain to go away. A lot of precious body heat tends to go through that contact with the ground. Hope there's nothing in your pack that won't get crushed or soaked while you're sitting on your pack keeping said butt dry. 

I loved how he says it's a "high visibility poncho and it's a camo pattern on it. If you wanna be seen then the obnoxious hunter neon orange is the best way to go, particularly from the air, while you're passed out under the shelter from hypothermia, exhaustion, possible injuries and whatever. So long as it's not in autumn where leaves could fall on it and obscure it enough for a spotter to say..."ahh, it's nothing, lets look along that ridge over there." 

Still, if you know/understand weather patterns enough to tell when a storm is just a fast mover and will blow over in anywhere between 1/2 hour to a couple of hours, those shelters will at least keep you dry. Or at least keep the sun from burning you red-red. Done right, the hoodie portion of the poncho can be used to collect rain-water for drinking while waiting for the storm(s) to pass. 

 Overall for the uninitiated (read: city folk) those are good viable methods.


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## Tez3 (Oct 17, 2011)

My other (ex RAF REGT) actually said just about everything MA Caver did about the poncho! (He long ago gave up on me as regards anything else lol.) he did say a bivvie bag would be a good thing to take along with you.


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## MA-Caver (Oct 17, 2011)

Tez3 said:


> My other (ex RAF REGT) actually said just about everything MA Caver did about the poncho! (He long ago gave up on me as regards anything else lol.) he did say a *bivvie bag* would be a good thing to take along with you.


 Amen to that! And another positive thing about it... it'll keep the creepy (poisonous) crawlies off of you better too. Though some large predators (depending upon where you're at and how deep in the wilderness you just happened to find yourself in) might appreciate a human stuffed burrito. :lol2:


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