Shelter/Tents/Bivouac

[RogerinTPA]

Back in the day, it was a leantoo/poncho hootch (with 550 cord) for most seasons. Now days, its a Coleman Avior X2. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...001000_325-1-0

[dhrith]

I just carry an old school poncho with bungee cords. I don't plan on doing the 20 to -20 shit anymore if I can help it. Good sleeping bag/mat for the colder stuff, poncho liner with a zipper sewn onto it to zip it up into a bag for the warmer weather.
This is just for a few days. Outside of Dec, Jan, Feb I doubt I'd do more than the poncho though, just to easy to devise shelter in Michigan with all the trees and such around. 30 to 100 though, I'd just be toting the poncho for sure.

[RWBlue]

sounds like i'll just get scoffed at, but you can get rolls of good plastic sheeting.. 4 mil is perfectly adequate for SHTF needs, 6 mil is almost indestructable. 10' wide, by however long you want. roll it out, cut it to length, roll it back up.. takes up 2"x12" tubular space in the pack and weighs about a pound. string it up with 550 cord and you'll stay dry and perfectly warm with a good camp pad and bag.

Some people like a little more comfort than others. If push came to shove, I am sure I could survive in your way for a while, but I wouldn't like it.

I have been eaten alive by bugs, run over by rodents, gotten close to snakes and skunks in the woods. I prefer a tent that zips up to keep the a little distance between me and the world.

My way means I actually use my BOB for fun trips.

[03humpalot]

Kifaru Para Hooch for short trips,sometimes with a tarp for flooring but usually without.

Extended trips or on horseback working out of a base camp i use this job.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...002&hasJS=true

[LittleRedToyota]

i use an Outdoor Research Alpine Bivy sack.

http://www.outdoorresearch.com/site/...:66.202.11.239

i give it high marks.

i also have an old eureka lightweight backpacking tent that i still use for "luxury" camping trips. it's a good tent and used to be my BOB shelter, but the bivy sack is smaller, lighter, quicker to set up, requires less space to set up, and is warmer in winter.

i did a bunch of research before picking a bivy, and the outdoor research alpine bivy seemed to come out on top, so that is the one i went with. i have not been disappointed at all.

i was also considering a tarp tent (http://www.tarptent.com and http://www.sixmoondesigns.com) instead of the bivy, but ultimately went with the bivy. still think those tarp tent things look interesting, though. i have no real experience with them, though, so i'm not sure how well they work out.

i have also spend many trips sleeping in an improvised shelter made using a poncho, sheet of plastic, etc. definitely works, but, for me, the added comfort and convienence of a bivy is well worth the relatively small amount of extra weight and space it takes up.

[RWBlue]

I forgot to mention the difference between 3 season and 4 season is the ability to support snow. This is why all true 4 season tents are heavier than comparable 3 season tent.