Whelen Lean To Style Shelter: S1E4 Into the Ozarks Bushcraft Camp Build | Gray Bearded Green Beret

I think I'm going to use my Tent Smiths, this is an 8 foot by 8 foot oil cloth. So with this type of shelter, I could do just a simple A-frame up there. Instead of this ridge pole, I could have just used a ridge line, but you know, I just happen to have that. I thought it would look nice right there and work really well, be really sturdy for this oil cloth tarp, which is typically a little heavier than a synthetic. So I've got a series of toggles on this, a bunch of guidelines. But on the backside, I kind of want to show you the toggle system that I'm going to be using that I think is pretty unique, and you can incorporate it into your shelters if you like it. So I like to have toggles on mine, just little wooden toggles. Those are attached with a clove hitch. This is a fisherman's knot right here, and then that's just a lark's head going through the actual loop of the tarp. But what that allows me to do is it kind of makes it like a button, right? So I can take this, wrap it around whatever I'm trying to anchor it to, and then I can use that toggle to go back through that line, and it actually catches and secures, kind of like a button. So again, just a wooden toggle, clove hitch, fisherman's knot to make a loop, and that lark's head that through. But that allows me to come around the material that I'm trying to secure it to, and then I can open that up, run the toggle through there on both sides, and it secures it just like a button. So it really makes shelters go up really quick. And then on these other toggles, pull those tight. On these other toggles, really all I've done is to make these a little more versatile because I'm going to be taking these down, is I've got just some bankline guy lines with a fixed loop on the end. In this case, I used an end line bowline. I can put that loop around the toggle, and now I have a guy line, and I can pull that out and stake that right off to the ground. Same thing on these. And if I'm not using it as a guy line, I can just take that off and put that on my kit. So really cool system for actually securing these when you're starting to use these traditional tarps, and even the synthetic tarps you could use. I'm going to bang some toggles in. I'm going to bang some tent stakes. It sounds dirty, but it's not. So I could make this an A-frame style just by kind of buttoning down the front side, if you will. But for this particular type of shelter, this kind of environment, I mean, it's the Ozarks, and it's the summertime. So it's really hot. It's really humid, even at night. So I like a more open kind of setup on my tarp. I still want to be protected from the rain because it does come in kind of with little notice, but I don't want to be so closed in. I don't want to trap a lot of body heat in. I want a nice open breeze to come through during the night so I can sleep more comfortably. So I'm going to do what's similar to a Welland lean-to style to where the backside is pinned down and the front side is going to be out in more of an awning. So I took a couple of probably, you know, a little over six foot, probably 6'4", 6'5", something like that, 6 1⁄2 feet, just some about broomstick thickness size poles to kind of give me that front awning support. And I cut a saw kerf in the top here that I can drop my cordage down in, and I'm going to use that to kind of rig this up into more of an awning. And all I did was run a couple of guy lines off of this front corner. I'll drop those down inside that saw kerf, and I'll pull those out and stake those guy lines off. And I like to do two guy lines on this one on each side because I can pull directly forward and I can also pull to the side and give me some tension across the front. So with any luck, I'll get these tent stakes in without breaking them in this Ozark dirt. I'll run this one kind of right off the front, probably needs to go about right there. Don't worry about my stake first, then we'll come back to the other part, huh? Drive that at an angle opposing that. Wish me luck. So far, so good. Gives me one anchor point to pull tension forward against the back. Wrap that around. I like to use just a round turn and two half inches on this, but you can use anything you want so long as it's actually secure. That's the important thing. There's one. I'm going to bring this one off at an angle this way to pull tension across the front. First things first, get that stake in the ground. Yeah, so I don't want to jinx it or anything, but that's three tent stakes in the back and now two up front. That's five in a row that I haven't broke. I didn't want to say that, but let's live a little. I like to live dangerously. That's five, only two more, and I haven't broken any, and that is hard for me to believe in this Ozark ground. Drop those right down in that saw kerf, get it about even with the other one, and I think I'll go ahead and pull this front one first. Oh, that's exactly what I needed right there, just a little nut. Made like a giant fixed loop, which is less handy than you would think it would be. There we go. I'm going to bring that kind of off to the front, kind of measure where I want my tent stake to be, probably about right where that big rock is, definitely a rock there. Ha! Jinxed it. I'm going with it. Jinxed it. Pretty strong little stake. Ha! All right, don't push it. It's in. Bring my other one kind of out to the side here, give me some tension this way. Yeah, that looks pretty good. So I've got my Welland kind of wind scoop that will keep the nice convective breeze in there, keep me cool at night. It's just a really good type of shelter to know. Still have some protection from the rain and the heavy dew that we have here, and when I say we, like I live here, the heavy dew like they have here that I'm enjoying right now. But it's still nice and open. I still feel like I'm a part of the wilderness, which is really important to me when I'm out. I don't like to be closed up. I don't like to be in a tent. I don't like to be in an A-frame where I can't see anything. I like these open designs like this. So this is a tripod raised bed shelter using a John Pack bed sleeve, TentSmiths 8x8 oil skin tarp, some of my favorite pieces of kit to bring out to the woods and just enjoy my time there. It really makes things nice and simple.