Willow Framed Tarp Shelter No Cordage Needed

Description

This is one of the most sturdy tarp setups there is, the arched shape with the diagonal bracing makes it very secure, just throw the tarp over and stake it down. The willow frame keeps the wind from pushing the tarp inward against you. You can also use small tree branches in place of the willows.

Link to the PSTL Tarp PST http://wildernessinnovation.com/?p=796

Tags: Tarpaulin,Rope (Sports Equipment),Camping,Tarp Tent (Product Category),outdoor,survival gear,shelter

Video Transcription

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see where my foot is there that's only half that's only half way out and so this shelter right here as its configured could easily sleep too you know one with the head to the front one of head to the back and as you can see along the along the wall here they could have pitched these holes here farther out I could have made this like about a foot and a half wider at the base than it is right now I position the camera right at the entrance and I'm back here at the back of my head so you can see there's a pretty good bit of space here I've got a good bit of space to the to the sight of me so this little setup right here is pretty darn nice fairly fairly roomy alright so here I am I'm sitting just about two feet inside the front here here's another thing that's really nice about this shelter this shelter this shelter is very very structurally sound because of the crisscrossing the arches and how everything is all twisted together this thing can take a pretty good a pretty good amount of weather pretty good win pretty good rain all that sort of thing because all this framework is not going to let the tarp cover come in past it and you can see in here the crisscrossing of the the support poles and all that look up on top and see all the arts work and everything like that what I like to do first of all is lay out my tarp and just get it stretched out and then once I've done that then I like to for this type of setup that I like to fold it over once I've got it the length out there I fold it over like this

and that that basically gives my footprint sighs and then I just build the framework around the outside of that I like to sharpen the ends of my upright poles and that way they'll shove into the ground easier once the poles are sharpened just go along each side of the tarp as its laid on the ground and shove them in about every about two feet apart so you'll wind up with two two rows of upright poles

the poles are then flexed towards each other and then the ends are our grabbed as I show here last a second reach under and grab the end of that one and pull it around and I just twist them around several times or how many times I'll go around and the friction of each other you

now i start the crossmember support the first thing i do is put a willow across the top that's long enough to go across the top of all the hoops all the arches and then the end here I'm just taking it and twisting twisting the end parts a little end whips of the willow I'm just twisting them around that front hoop and that holds those in place and I just use other willows on the on the ends and everything in the middle to tie them off just by just twisting all you're doing in this whole setup no cord is you're just twisting willows around to hold everything in place now for stability I like to do some diagonals usually forming a couple of X patterns on each side of the shelter of the framework here and the ends again or just twisted around just like before the butt end of them i do sharpen usually and jam it into the ground so it is jammed into the ground on one end it comes up on a diagonal and then it twists around just like we've done before

this video's a little jiggly here but basically I'm showing at this point you can add more willows lengthwise or other diagonals anything like that and all you have to do is just weave them in and out so you go over one under one that sort of thing when you get to the end a lot of times I like to just jam it gem the tip of it through the very end of just seem see me kind of working that into there and the more of these you put in the stronger your shelter but basically just just a basic framework is all you need to throw the tarp over but if you want to make it more sturdy you can add more and more of these willows to it and you can you can make this thing really very very strong so there's just some close-ups here all you're doing is taking small willows or tips of willows twisting them around the big willows that make the frame and once you've done enough of that you've got a framework you lay your your tarp along the side and it's ready just pull the tarp up over stake it down you're good to go