Kimboko
First, Hi to all as this is my first post.
The "poncho you have are a norwegian "Zeltbahn". They are still in use in the norwegian army, I think, at least in the national guard.
The most common configurations are 5 and 7 pieces toghether (a infantery squad consists of 7 men).
When I was doing service as a squad leader (1989) we had a tent made of 10 tarps as the old recoilless gun squad had 10 soldiers (84mm RFK/ Carl Gustav). The tent was heavy (15 kilos) when dry and even heavier when wet, I know, I carried the damn thing
.
We never used the tarp as a singel piece shelter and the tents were buttoned up in camp. No one wants to button a tent in winter, better to have it premade.
They were originally designed for single use though. The tarp would be carried rolled together on the old type combat ruck (I`ve seen pics of it on this forums). Inside the ruck there was 2 small tent poles (wood) and 3 tent pegs.
The tent pole goes trough the brass grommet and the 3 tent pegs in the corners now on the ground. I`ve never tried it, but I have several of these tarps and the old combat ruck, and I will try it and send some pics later.
Tor Helge