Curious about the Supershelter concept.

[BigMonster]

Hi guys. Title says it all.
I have al the theory but no experience with this so please share your thoughts, experiences and knowledge. Of course I'm talking about the shelter with the green house effect.
My doubts:
-Does it have to be a seald ployethylen bubble or can you f.e. make a lean to and line the back of it with mylar and drape the frond with clear sheath?
-If you have enough material to create sealed bubble wouldn't you suffocate? How is the ventilation going if the whole idea is to keep the warm air inside?
-Does the front material have to be clear or just thin enough for the IR to go through? I carry a SOL blanket in my PSK and a small ultra silnylon tarp which is thin to be almost see through. Or can you use £1 disposable poncho for example?
-How sealed does it have to be? Can you have one side made from debris? What about burning small holes etc?
-any ideas for the polyethylen sheet? Builders stuff would be too bulky/heavy for PSK, I know painters foil is too fragile for anything outdoorsy... I know cuben fiber would be your best option cause you have tarp that can be used in a Supershelter, but the price...

Going on holiday and I won't have time to experiment myself for some time so any thoughts would be much appriciated.

 

[Oblio13]

There's no reason you couldn't make one partially of debris, but I'd make sure it was green debris or you'd be likely to go up in flames.

I made one last winter using half of a pup tent pitched as a lean-to, a mylar blanket and a clear shower curtain. It worked surprisingly well, and I'm planning on an improved version soon. I've already bought some heavy-duty clear vinyl. Here are a couple random thoughts:

If it's sealed too thoroughly, it gets very humid inside.

The front material does need to be clear or nearly so. Think of it as a greenhouse. In fact, greenhouse plastic would be perfect.

If you angle the bottom of it out during the day, sunlight will heat the shelter.

When you heat it at night with a fire, angle the bottom in, or sparks will land on it and melt holes.

Don't build the fire too close.

You have to get up off the ground, with a bed of balsam or spruce tips or something. Even when the air in the shelter is warm, the ground is still cold.

For my next super shelter, I'm going to use the half of a pup tent again, with the mylar blanket duct taped to it. The clear vinyl will be wrapped around poles on both long ends, like a scroll. One pole will go over the ridge line of the lean-to, and the other will lay on the ground. I'll be able to move the latter in or out to adjust the angle of the front, or lift it for ventilation.

 

[BigMonster]

Awesome info

 

[CLEM]

I've fancied trying this out myself too! These ere Mylar sheets, easy to come by are they?

 

[Toddy]

They sell them as survival blankets, two for £1 in poundland, or if you look for the foil Christmas paper, that's the same stuff.
I got some metre wide stuff on a roll, 10 metres of it, iirc, for £2 in The Works one Christmas.
Husband and sons used it to make a hot air balloon so much for my big box wrapping stuff.

M

 

[Oblio13]

I bought some military surplus "casualty blankets", they're green on one side and reflective on the other, with grommets in the corners. I've seen rolls of quilted reflective insulation about 1/4" thick at hardware stores that I bet would work even better.

 

[CLEM]

They sell them as survival blankets, two for £1 in poundland, or if you look for the foil Christmas paper, that's the same stuff.
I got some metre wide stuff on a roll, 10 metres of it, iirc, for £2 in The Works one Christmas.
Husband and sons used it to make a hot air balloon so much for my big box wrapping stuff.

M

Thanks for that Toddy

 

[Buckshot]

The one Mors did was 2 bits of very thin plastic sheeting similar to the decorating cover sheets you can get from B&Q etc.
One over the back and the other over the front overlapping at the sides and top
Front one is clear
Bed is about 2-3 feet off the floor making a nice seat too
IIRC fire is a pace and a half away from the front of the shelter.

 

[sandbender]

You can see some folks building the super shelter frame on this Mors Kochanski course gallery.

 

[Uilleachan]

I've spent a lot of time under poly sheeting, but I wouldn't want a poly shelter too close to a fire though. The weight of the material is worth considering as it needs to be heavy enough to take a wrapped grommet (pebble or wood) to enable the tying of guy lines to it without pulling off too easily. Very flexible trapping material though, reusable and low cost.