Aye Up All,
Philipb recently raised the issue of whether shock corded fibre-glass poles were any use for tarp set up but later in the thread added a piece of info re what he wanted his shelter for -
'a quick stop in foul weather when you want a shelter just for a meal stop' -
I dont recall if Ive already posted this (cant dig far enough back?) but even if so its worth a re-run I believe.
Have a look at the attached image(s).
This shelter kit was originally created decades ago around the time of the arched basher set up which I posted recently (quite a while before those (larger) now widely available river bank shelters became so prolific).
It was intended as a quick-stop (refs break) shelter as well as (later) for casual wildlife obs. It is as easy to open as a brolly and can be suspended and/or anchored in less than a minute in woodland or open country.
The one shown is a modified Fulton umbrella, large version. It has a strong fibre glass central pole and fibre glass spreaders.
The original cover material was a bit thin for the purpose in mind and was initially recovered with a u/s Brit Army poncho but later replaced with a past-it's-best, Austrian Army surplus poncho (a better colour than the original black and the brighter green Brit too IMHO). A single guy line tab was sewn in at the front but some of the eyelets from the poncho also ended up nicely positioned.
Using the same material I added a curtain for attachment at the rear which simply press-studs on/off (on the inside ) as required. The length of the curtain was cut to suit me in an upright sitting position. The curtain has several eyelets along the bottom hem to stake it down if required.
A hole was bodged through the 'spike' end of the brolly shaft and a piece of 20lb fishing line fed through it a few times to create a loop from which to hang the shelter.
Originally that was it, I put up with the brolly handle dangling beneath the shelter for years. About five years back I came into a bit of time! and a requirement to bring this particular shelter kit out of retirement - and the 'dangling handle' had to be sorted!
On this shelter I simply cut the brolly shaft just below the point where it protrudes through the push-up section leaving enough spare to drill a hole for a split pin to hold the brolly in the open position.
More recently, sometimes there hasn't been a conveniently positioned (suspension) tree at the point from which I want to observe - enter the good old expanding Rawl bolt.
On a second brolly, a better colour for the green season (The Range £8) I cut the umbrella shaft just below the point where it protrudes through the locking mechanism when the brolly is opened up.
I carefully sanded out the inner diameter of each shaft until they would take the expanding section of a Rawl bolt and then glued them into each cut end of the shaft(s).
One of the bolts has had the normal long bolt removed and replaced with a suitably threaded nut.
Result removable (or replaceable) brolly handle.
Although I use the set predominantly in woodland I can if needs be attach a section of modified walking pole (or a normal one) to the lower brolly shaft and set up without the use of trees which might be of use to pilipb and others.
If you decide to try this - POINTS TO NOTE:
1. Keep close control of the large spring as you make adjustments it can pop out. Wear safety glasses until you have the hang of it.
2. Take care not to over-sand the shafts nor over-tighten the Rawl bolts.
When using it I carry the set in a specially made bag which attaches vertically to the outside of my ruck.
Philipb recently raised the issue of whether shock corded fibre-glass poles were any use for tarp set up but later in the thread added a piece of info re what he wanted his shelter for -
'a quick stop in foul weather when you want a shelter just for a meal stop' -
I dont recall if Ive already posted this (cant dig far enough back?) but even if so its worth a re-run I believe.
Have a look at the attached image(s).
This shelter kit was originally created decades ago around the time of the arched basher set up which I posted recently (quite a while before those (larger) now widely available river bank shelters became so prolific).
It was intended as a quick-stop (refs break) shelter as well as (later) for casual wildlife obs. It is as easy to open as a brolly and can be suspended and/or anchored in less than a minute in woodland or open country.
The one shown is a modified Fulton umbrella, large version. It has a strong fibre glass central pole and fibre glass spreaders.
The original cover material was a bit thin for the purpose in mind and was initially recovered with a u/s Brit Army poncho but later replaced with a past-it's-best, Austrian Army surplus poncho (a better colour than the original black and the brighter green Brit too IMHO). A single guy line tab was sewn in at the front but some of the eyelets from the poncho also ended up nicely positioned.
Using the same material I added a curtain for attachment at the rear which simply press-studs on/off (on the inside ) as required. The length of the curtain was cut to suit me in an upright sitting position. The curtain has several eyelets along the bottom hem to stake it down if required.
A hole was bodged through the 'spike' end of the brolly shaft and a piece of 20lb fishing line fed through it a few times to create a loop from which to hang the shelter.
Originally that was it, I put up with the brolly handle dangling beneath the shelter for years. About five years back I came into a bit of time! and a requirement to bring this particular shelter kit out of retirement - and the 'dangling handle' had to be sorted!
On this shelter I simply cut the brolly shaft just below the point where it protrudes through the push-up section leaving enough spare to drill a hole for a split pin to hold the brolly in the open position.
More recently, sometimes there hasn't been a conveniently positioned (suspension) tree at the point from which I want to observe - enter the good old expanding Rawl bolt.
On a second brolly, a better colour for the green season (The Range £8) I cut the umbrella shaft just below the point where it protrudes through the locking mechanism when the brolly is opened up.
I carefully sanded out the inner diameter of each shaft until they would take the expanding section of a Rawl bolt and then glued them into each cut end of the shaft(s).
One of the bolts has had the normal long bolt removed and replaced with a suitably threaded nut.
Result removable (or replaceable) brolly handle.
Although I use the set predominantly in woodland I can if needs be attach a section of modified walking pole (or a normal one) to the lower brolly shaft and set up without the use of trees which might be of use to pilipb and others.
If you decide to try this - POINTS TO NOTE:
1. Keep close control of the large spring as you make adjustments it can pop out. Wear safety glasses until you have the hang of it.
2. Take care not to over-sand the shafts nor over-tighten the Rawl bolts.
When using it I carry the set in a specially made bag which attaches vertically to the outside of my ruck.
