BORELLI CONSULTING: Recreational Equipment Reviews

The Poncho "Hooch"
21 May 2007

In several past articles I've referred to my surplus military poncho as a good emergency shelter item. In fact, it's been included in at least five articles as recommended equipment, and it's been referred to in many more than that. In response to several of those articles I've gotten emails from folks who said, "What you say is nice; but pictures would help." Point taken. This week I got my poncho out and set it up in the three different configurations I know of to use it as an emergency shelter. Below I'll describe all three ways and offer up what I believe to be the strengths and weaknesses of each.

I guess the first thing I should do is list the parts and pieces you'll need to set up the poncho as an emergency shelter in any of the described configurations. You obviously need a poncho. Surplus but serviceable ponchos are available online and in many "outdoor" stores. Remember that they aren't waterPROOF, only water resistant. It doesn't hurt to increase their water repellent capability by treating them with a spray on waterproofer. So, you need a poncho, several lengths (or a roll) of paracord or other similar cord, and at least three aluminum tent stakes. Four stakes is better and necessary for one of the options. Shown to the right is four tent stakes, my stored poncho and a length of paracord. I ended up cutting three lenghts of the paracord: two 12' long and one 16' long. At the end of each I tied a loop so that it was easy to wrap the cord around a tree trunk and not have to tie it - just pull the loose end through the loop.

To use the poncho as an emergency shelter you need to make sure you tie the hood shut so that you don't have a hole in the center of your shelter. The picture below shows the three steps of tying the hood shut: open, pulled tight, and then rolled and wrapped. This effectively seals the hole and gives you a bundle to tie cord around / to when you set up your shelter.

Using two trees and the listed equipment, we're going to look at two shelters you can set up with your poncho. The first is a lean-to shelter. The lean-to does nothing more than give you a slanted fabric "roof" over your head and a wind break to one side. It's important when using this method to make sure your open side faces down any grade that might exist. Further, if you're going to build a fire, you want it in front of the open face of the shelter, but not so close as to ever endanger the poncho with catching fire. I've found four to six feet to be a good distance.

Lay the poncho out with one edge between the two trees you intend to use for your support. Using the paracord (one of the 12' lengths for me) tie one corner to one tree. Depending on how much of a slant you want - which directly relates to how much sheltered space you have underneath - you should tie your poncho corners at about the same height as the bottom edge of your pants pocket. Between 24 and 30 inches is a good height. With the first corner tied, tie the other corner and snug the poncho's edge out. The less sag you have the better. Once you've tied that edge of the poncho, use two of your tent stakes at the rear corners and pull the poncho out as snug as you can without tearing the corners or popping your cord ties. Even when stretched taught, you'll still see some sag in the middle where the poncho hood hole is - and you've tied it shut. If Mother Nature decides to rain on your shelter, that sag can catch water that will eventually leak through onto you. I recommend using the 16' length of cord to loop around the hood bundle and pull it up some to one tree or the other - whichever is closer. You don't have to pull it alot - just enough to lift that hood bundle up and create a proper run off for any precipitation that may come your way.

This type of "hooch" allows for wind to come at you from three directions. It is better than no shelter at all, but I prefer the "pup tent" method of phoncho shelter. To set up a poncho pup tent, lay your poncho out in between your two selected trees, with the middle eyes of the short ends of your poncho lined up on center with the trees. Use one 12' length of your cord to tie that center eyelet to one of your trees. I would recommend that same 24" height. Remember that using the pup tent method the highet you tie the center the more narrow your shelter will be. It only has to be high enough for you to get under comfortably. With one end tied, tie the other end and pull it snug. I give the same word of caution here as I did before: snug is good - ripped is not. With the center thus tied at both ends, pull each side out and use your tent stakes to secure all four corners. This method of using your poncho for shelter gives you a small pup tent type structure that only allows wind access from two angles. It is a fairly stable and relatively strong structure. Precipitation won't puddle as much or cause any sag. When using this shelter method, set up your pup tent across any grade that exists. Once you have the pup tent poncho shelter set up use loose dirt to bury the uphill edge. That way any water running down the grade toward your hooch is directed around the ends instead of under that one edge and then under you. Being cold isn't so bad. Being wet and cold is very bad. Water leaches your body heat four times faster than air. Hypothermia sucks. Stay dry. Survive being cold.

Our last option is setting up a poncho hooch with only one tree available for support. This is, in my opinion, the least desireable option. Lay your poncho out with one corner "aimed" at the tree you're using for support. Tie that corner eyelet to your tree no higher than 20 to 24 inches. If you tie it any higher than that you'll be giving up valuable space under your shelter unnecessarily. With that one corner tied pull the diagonally opposite corner out and stake it down. Don't pull it tight; just pull it out so that the hood bundle is just coming off the ground. With that corner staked down, pull the remaining to out the same way: just enough so that the hood bundle is being lifted slightly off the ground. Now use your remaining 12' or your 16' length of cord to loop around the hood bundle and lift it up as high as you can reach on your support tree. On the tree I used I had a small branch about eight feet up that I could loop the cord around. Use the cord to lift up the hood bundle until the poncho is stretched taught. Once that's done you may have to adjust the placement of the corners to attempt to reduce any sagging spots that will puddle water and affect the efficiency of your shelter. It's not ideal, but it IS shelter.

Remember that using a poncho for shelter is an emergency fall back position. If you are planning on being out, take a tent. But should you find yourself out on an unexpected overnighter - for whatever reason - at least you can create some shelter out of your poncho and some lengths of cord. If you don't have those items - plus the four aluminum tent stakes - in your bugout bag or backpack, go put them in now. I meant what I said: cold is bad - but cold and wet is infinitely worse.

BE SAFE!

I have a comment on this article.

Don't forget to check out our Tactical Equipment Review about the pros and cons of .45ACP versus 9mm versus .357Sig versus .45GAP.

This week's Training Article, a revived article about Active Shooter response with limited manpower.

For a listing of all reviews in chronological order, GO HERE.

New American Truth eMagazine
Dedicated to ALL citizens who oppose terrorism and injustice.
Subscribe Today!

Subscribe To New American Truth