Join Chris Speir in the Primitive Camping & Bushcraft Podcast as he guides you through essential tarp shelter setups, from the lean-to and A-frame to more advanced configurations like the diamond fly and Adirondack shelter. Gain practical, step-by-step techniques to enhance your outdoor experience and build confidence in your wilderness survival skills.
Show Notes:
Introduction
Welcome and overview of tarp shelter configurations.
Mention of previous episode on basic tarp use.
Segment 1: Ridge Line and Prusik Knot Basics
Explanation of setting up a ridge line between two trees.
Detailed instructions on tying a Prusik knot.
Importance of using toggles for secure setups.
Segment 2: Lean-To Shelter Setup
Step-by-step process for building a lean-to.
Benefits of this simple and effective shelter type.
Segment 3: A-Frame Shelter Configuration
How to lay the tarp lengthwise over the ridge line.
Staking techniques for increased protection against wind and rain.
Variations, such as the flying A-frame.
Segment 4: Diamond Fly Shelter
Explanation of the diamond fly shape and setup.
Advantages for hammock camping.
Segment 5: Adirondack Shelter Setup
Description of creating a three-sided structure.
Detailed instructions for forming walls and adding depth.
Segment 6: Plow Point Shelter Overview
Fast and simple setup ideal for emergency situations.
Guide on securing the tarp at an angle for effective coverage.
Practical Insights:
Tips on using natural materials for stakes and additional support.
Mention of using reflective materials for heat retention in colder climates.
Conclusion and Teaser for Next Episode
Recap of tarp configurations covered.
Preview of the next episode focusing on water collection and purification.
(soft music)
Welcome back to the Primitive
Camping in Bushcraft Podcast.
My name is Chris Speir,
and I'm gonna be your guide
to enjoying the great outdoors.
So in the last episode, we discuss tarps
and using a tarp as a shelter.
And a tarp is an amazing tool.
And what we're gonna do
today is we're gonna go over
various configurations.
If I could make it all
the way through the show,
I got a massive sore throat.
Not feeling too well,
and I got some Nike wheel
on board right now.
But we're gonna try to set the stage
for fundamental tarp setups.
And we're gonna back up just a touch,
and we're gonna go over the Prusik knot
and the ridge line again.
Now, in order to build
a shelter with a tarp,
you have to be able to make a ridge line
from one tree to another.
The two trees should be far enough apart
that you can actually set the tarp up
in between those trees
comfortably or without wrinkle.
And then the ridge lines,
you're gonna fix it on one end
with a, I have a overhand loop knot
and bring that around the tree.
Insert the other end of the,
making a loop into
that loop knot right there
and insert toggle, and it's good.
It's good to go.
Now, bear with me, bear
with me, I have a headache.
So if I leave out some terms,
don't hold it against me this time.
So you're gonna run
that string all the way
across to the other side,
and you're gonna use a trucker's hitch
to make that ridge line tight.
And so you're gonna
tighten it down extremely tight,
tie it off and good to go.
Now with the Prusik knot, you can,
these strings get different lengths,
depending on what you need to do for,
or do it for, or use it for.
You can make a 12, cut
off 12 inches of string,
tie it into a loop and make two of them.
And then you have yourself,
start making yourself a Prusik knot.
And then you're gonna put
that string on the backside
and then you're gonna loop it through
over, over, over three times.
And then the last
time you're gonna let go
and you're gonna let
that loop coming around
and it's gonna seal it off.
You're gonna have three, it's
gonna look like a little fist
sitting up there on the string.
And that's what it's gonna
look like with a little string
dangling down right here in the middle.
And that is gonna allow your string
to have a non-slip aspect to it.
It's gonna be
tightened down with tension.
And so it's not gonna slip
side to side or anything like
that, but you can move
it where you need it.
But once you put pressure
on it, it's not gonna move.
So those two are extremely important.
Now you're gonna get
you a couple of toggles.
Toggles is just a stick
about two inches long.
And so you get you a
couple of little sticks
that you could stick up through there.
So getting along to our first shelter.
Now the lean two is gonna be
the simplest of tarp shelters.
The lean two is the one that I use
when I go camping the most.
It is the one that I use most often
because it's simple to put up.
It's real quick, it's
easy and it's effective.
Most of us are not gonna
be going out into the woods
camping just because it's raining
and need elaborate shelters.
Some do just for the
off factor on YouTube.
And so they can get the
views, but some do not.
Most people wanna go
out and enjoy themselves
and not be miserable the whole time.
Then I am one of those guys.
Whenever I head out camping,
tarp shelters are the way
that I'm going to set up
a shelter while I'm in the woods.
I'm not bringing a tent with me.
I might bring a hammock.
99% of the time I'm
gonna bring a hammock.
But anyway, I'm gonna
set a tarp shelter up
and the lean two is
the way I'm gonna do it.
So first, we already
established our ridge line.
So that ridge line is gonna be here
throughout the rest of this conversation.
So we have that ridge line set up.
So you're gonna take
the ends of your tarp,
the front corners, the
front left and right corners
of your tarp, and you're gonna fix one
with a prusik knot onto that ridge line.
And you're gonna take that prusik knot
and you're gonna, or that prusik loop
and you're gonna feed it
through the attachment point
on your tarp, insert a toggle.
Now it's not gonna go nowhere.
Give it a little bit of tension,
go to the other side, do the same thing.
And then tighten it down, make it tight.
And you have just made the
front side of your shelter,
your lean two shelter.
Now the ridge line
is, you're gonna want it
about chest height.
That way it's not too high.
That wind's gonna blow in all your stuff.
Our rain's gonna blow in
all your stuff, you know,
stuff like that.
Now go to the backside of your tarp
and pull it tight and stake it down.
Now use a stake that you
either brought with you
or you make when you're in woods.
Typically I make one and
from when I'm in woods,
it's easy, sticks are everywhere.
So, and then go to the
other side and tighten it down.
Do the same thing while
you have made yourself
a lean two shelter.
All you have to do is
clean out underneath it,
set your gear up under
there, set up your bedding,
do whatever you're gonna
do and you're good to go.
Now, A-frames.
A-frames are perfect for
people that do hammocks.
Hammocks, camping and
A-frame campings go hand in hand.
A-frames offer more
protection from the elements
than a lean two and
is perfect for camping
with windy and rainy conditions.
Now there's several
variations of the A-frame.
First you wanna lay the tarp lengthwise
over the ridge line.
So, and you're gonna be
doing half of your tarp.
So you're gonna lay it over lengthwise
and then you're gonna make sure
it is equal lengths to the ground.
And if that's the case,
then you're ready to go ahead
and affix your pruss it loops at the end
of the tie outs there in
the middle of the tarp.
Tie it on both sides,
put some tension on it.
And now you go to each
side and stake it out.
So that's the corners
that you're gonna stake out
each corner of that tarp.
And that's it, you
made an A-frame shelter.
Now, if you do it higher than that
with guidelines coming out and tied off,
that's called a flying
A-frame or, you know,
it's still an A-frame,
you know, but it's higher up
and it's where,
especially if you're using a tarp,
that's what typically you're gonna do.
So that's it, that is it for the A-frame.
I mean, these tarp
shelters are easy to do.
If you've never done
a tarp shelter before,
it's no big deal
because anybody can do it.
And anybody, no matter
your skillset can do it.
And then even advanced
people use tarp setups
in a basic way.
That's the beautiful thing
about survival bushcraft,
camping, you know, primitive camping,
all these aspects, as
they all fit hand in hand,
there's not a wrong way to do it.
And a lot of people will,
that's not how you do it.
It doesn't matter as
long as the end result
gets you what your desired outcome is.
So, and now we're
gonna take the diamond fly.
This is our third shelter.
Now with the A-frame on there, you
disconnect everything.
And you just take that
tarp, you turn it lengthways.
And so you're gonna go
corner to corner on this
where it looks like a
diamond fashion coming down
in the front and back.
Now, this is gonna allow for you to have
a little bit more coverage if you're
camping with a hammock
than a traditional A-frame.
It'll allow you to have some coverage
over the ends of your hammocks, you know.
And that way it doesn't get as wet.
Now, so for this, you're
gonna lay the tarp corner
to corner of the ridge line.
You're gonna create a diamond shape,
just like I said just a second ago.
Do the same thing with the prussic loops.
You're gonna attach
the prussics on each end,
tighten them off.
Then you're gonna take the corners,
and there should be only one corner
pointing towards the
ground, pull it out, stake it off.
Pull the other one out,
stake it off, you're golden.
You're good to go.
So now, that is the diamond fly.
So we've been through three
configurations already.
That's easy, easy stuff.
And you know, I give step-by-step details
inside the book here.
So if you're confused, you don't know
what's really happened,
I even show you how to set
the prussic knots on here.
So step-by-step details in here.
And it's really good to go.
Now, the A-frame, the diamond fly,
now the Adirondack shelter.
So the Adirondack
shelter is traditionally
a three-sided log structure.
But you can make one out of a tarp.
It offers three sides of
protection from the elements,
making it perfect for
cooler environments.
Now, this one's gonna be a
little bit more difficult
for me to really demonstrate over audio,
and try to visually make
it to where you can see it.
But we're gonna try our best anyway.
So what you're gonna do is
you're gonna lay one corner
of the tarp of the ridge
line, and secure with the toggles.
And by that, you're
gonna take one corner,
where it comes up into a pyramid corner,
and you're gonna flip it
down to the, flip it over there,
to the first set of
attachment points on there.
It's gonna give you about
two, three feet right there.
Now, once you do that, you
attach the diamond fly to it.
And then you're gonna
have this little fly piece
just flapping, not just
flip it back over the,
we'll use that later for something else.
Now, you come out,
and you stake down the back
corners to form the walls.
So you stake down the very back corners.
And then you bring the front corners up,
and you stake those down,
and it's gonna do an
octagon looking shape.
It's gonna have flat in the back,
and then kind of an angled out,
and then you're gonna
have this little flap
that you flipped over,
that now you can flip over,
and tie it off, and have more coverage,
and more rain protection in front.
So, now you can use one of
the guy lines in the back,
one of the attachment
points in the back to pull it up.
It adds a little bit more dimension,
a little bit more depth into that,
and allows you to get
a little bit more room.
Now, you're gonna have
the same amount of corner
over the top, you're
gonna have that on the bottom.
And so you can flip it in
and have sort of a ground shape
that you could put your gear on.
And so, I'll read this,
I'm gonna read this step
by step out of the book,
that way there's no confusion.
The Adirondack shelter is traditionally
a three-sided log structure,
but you can make one using a tarp.
It offers three sides of
protection from the elements,
making it perfect for
colder environments.
Now, step one, lay one corner of the tarp
over the ridge line.
Test step two, attach
a toggle to your tarp
by inserting the priscite loop through
the top tie-out point.
As you pull on the toggle,
the top will get tighter.
Attach a toggle to the other side.
And there is equal pressure.
And so you wanna make
sure there's equal pressure
on both sides right there.
Step three, go around
the back of the tarp
and stake down the tie-out points
that are directly opposite the toggles.
Then, a far corner of
the tarp underneath,
this will give you a small ground sheet.
That's what I was just
demonstrating just a minute ago.
Step four, step now,
stake down, sorry,
stake down the two
front corner tie-out points,
which will create side walls.
Flip the leftover top
piece back over the ridge line.
So this is gonna give
your depth inside there.
It's gonna give you
your sides, your left wall,
your right wall, and your back wall.
Step five, attach the guideline
to the middle of the back
wall created by the tarp
and tie this to another nearby tree.
Doing so will create more
room inside your shelter.
Now, then like I said,
everything is step-by-step
inside the book, perimeter
camping and bushcraft there.
And it's good stuff.
I mean, this right here, if you got a
windy, cold environment
and you got a fire in front of it,
the way the shelter works,
it will collect all
the heat from that fire
and reflect it to you or direct it to you
and cause you to stay warmer.
And if you was to set
up an emergency blanket
with a reflective
backing on the backside,
it will bounce it right back towards you
and you will stay nice and toasty.
So the last one that we're gonna go over,
this will be the fifth one,
is the plow point shelter.
Now, most people, most
outdoorsmen and ladies
have already used this kind of shelter.
They know about it and it's easy.
It's one of the easier ones.
It's one of the fastest and
simplest shelters to make.
And it's ideal for real quick right now,
gotta have a shelter and
the plow point shelter.
So you're gonna take the corner, a corner
and like a pyramid,
like the end of your tarp
and you're going to reach up on a tree
and you're gonna tie that corner
as high as you can reach on the tree.
Then you're gonna come out
and about a 45 degree angle or so,
maybe a little bit
less or a little bit more,
whatever, it depends on for you.
And you're going to
attach the back opposite angle
to the ground.
Then you're gonna come to the front.
It's gonna look like a 45 degree angle
from the tree to the ground
and then along the ground.
So along the ground,
then you staple the front.
You pull those out
till it's nice and tight.
Staple those out, staple those.
Stake those down on both sides.
So that is how you make
the plow point shelter.
You're starting to see that everything
with the shelter is pretty easy.
It does not have to
be elaborate log cabins
and stuff once you get into the woods.
So that was that.
Now, so we covered the
tarp shelters configurations
and this is gonna conclude
our discussion on tarp shelters.
And so next episode,
we're gonna start moving
into the water
section, the water chapter.
And we're gonna dive
into the critical topics
of water, covering water
collection, filtration,
purification techniques,
and camping and survival needs
that all the stuff that
you need for survival.
So, but there's another aspect of shelter
that I didn't cover here
that I did a real quick
YouTube video on that you
might wanna go check out.
It's like making shelter
out of natural material.
Essentially, you're
making an A-frame shelter
and you're gonna use sticks and you know,
you go check that video
out, give me a comment,
let me know what you think.
I know this was kind of short.
This was on the 16 minutes, 15 minutes,
something like that right now.
But like I said, I have
a massive sore throat.
I have a pounding headache
and I have a ton of Nyquil on board.
But I really do
appreciate everybody's help.
And I thank you so much.
And I'll see you in the next one
when we start going over water.
God bless you.
I'll see you next time.
(upbeat music)