How to Build a Portable Shelter

A tarp lean-to can easily provide a portable shelter adequate for camping wherever you may go.

Building a portable shelter will let you carry your shelter with you when you go hiking and plan on staying out for more than just a day. A tarp and a couple of dowels can be made into a lean-to shelter. This type of shelter is easily transported to wherever your adventures take you.

Things You'll Need

• 4-foot by 8-foot rip stop tarp with grommets around the edge
• 4 -- 2-foot-long, 1-inch dowels
• 2 -- 1-inch diameter PVC slip-on connectors
• 6 -- 1-foot, ½-inch diameter ropes
• 2 -- 5-foot-long, ½-inch diameter ropes
• 6 -- ½-inch diameter, 6-inch-long spikes
• Hammer

Instructions

Constructing the shelter

1. Lay the 4-foot by 8-foot tarp flat on the ground where you are placing your shelter. Then tie a 1-foot-long, ½-inch diameter rope through the grommets at two of the corners of the tarp on the same 8-foot side. These will be used to tie the tarp to the standing posts.

2. Thread and tie 1-foot ropes through grommets on two of the tarp's corners on the opposite 8-foot side from the ropes you tied into the tarp in Step 1. Then tie two more 1-foot ropes through grommets into place at two points in the middle of the tarp on the side where you just tied on the corner ropes. This now gives the tarp four 1-foot ropes on one 8-foot side of it, and two 1-foot ropes on the corners on the opposite 8-foot side.

3. Use the hammer to pound four of the ½-inch diameter, 6-inch spikes into the ground in a line parallel to the side of the tarp where the four 1-foot ropes are. Be certain to leave about a quarter of the spikes' lengths above the surface of the ground. Then tie the four 1-foot ropes of the tarp around the four spikes that are in the ground. This will secure the back side of the lean-to shelter to the ground.

4. Slide two of the 2-foot-long, 1-inch dowels into one of the 1-inch diameter PVC slip-on connectors to create a 4-foot-long post. Repeat this process with the other two 2-foot-long, 1-inch dowels and the other 1-inch diameter PVC slip-on connector. This creates another 4-foot-long post. These two posts will be the standing posts used to hold up the front of the lean-to shelter.

5. Stand a post at each corner of the 8-foot side of the tarp where the 1-foot ropes are tied to the tarp's corners. Then tie the 1-foot ropes to the top of the standing posts. This now elevates the tarp four feet up on the side that is not secured to the ground. This is the front of the lean-to shelter.

6. Tie a 5-foot-long, ½-inch diameter rope to the top of each of the standing posts. Then use the hammer to pound a spike into the ground about a foot out from each of the standing posts. Now tie the other end of the 5-foot-long rope to the spike in the ground. This secures the standing posts so that the lean-to shelter will not collapse during windy conditions. The shelter has been constructed at this point.

Disassembling the shelter for transport

1. Pull the spikes up that are tied to the ground ends of the 5-foot ropes. Then untie the 5-foot ropes from the top of the standing posts and from around the spikes.

2. Untie the 1-foot ropes that are on the tarp's corners from the top of the 4-foot standing posts. Then uncouple the one of the 2-foot, 1-inch diameter dowels from the PVC slip-on connector on each of the posts. This now gives you four 2-foot-long pieces, with the PVC connectors attached to the ends of two of these pieces.

3. Pull up the spikes from each of the 1-foot ropes that are on the side of the tarp that is secured to the ground. Then untie the 1-foot ropes from around the spikes.

4. Fold the 4-foot by 8-foot tarp in half along the 4-foot sides, making a 2-foot by 8-foot tarp. Then lay the spikes and 2-foot post pieces at one end of the tarp. Now fold all of the 1-foot ropes into the tarp so that they will not hang out when the tarp is later rolled up.

5. Roll up the tarp, starting from the end where the 2-foot post pieces and the spikes are. This will create a 2-foot-long tarp roll when you finish.

6. Wrap the 5-foot-long ropes around the tarp roll and then tie them tight to keep the tarp from unrolling. The shelter has now been finished and is ready for transport.

References

• PracticalSurvivor.com: Wilderness Survival Shelter -- Lean-to
• PracticalSurvivor.com: Poncho and Tarp Shelters
• Equipped to Survive: Tarp Shelters -- An Introduction
• OneStopSurvivalGuide.com: Wilderness Survival Shelter