I took along a Furtech ShellTA on last weekends trip but unfortunately wasn't able to get any pictures of it erected so I've erected it again and here you go. The ShellTA can be used in many guises, it can be worn as a poncho, zipped up into a bivvy bag, converted into a 2 man storm shelter or as in this case turned into a tarp. I took along 8 pegs and a 115cm foldable alloy pole. The total weight was 570g ... obviously you don't require a pole, instead you could erect it as a ridge between trees or bikes, hang it from a tree or just use a stick.
I tied the 'hood' off with its elasticated drawcord and that gave me a very secure pocket for my pole to sit in. By moving the pole off centre I was able to have one side lower than the other to offer more protection and increase the available floor space. I chose to use 8 guys but 4 or 6 would work fine ... 8 does allow a taughter pitch though. Internal space is very good, the usable floor space is around 7' x 4' and I'm able to sit up without any problems. There was more than enough room for me to sleep, store all my kit and carefully cook underneath the ShellTA.
Saturday night saw persistent rain and a fair amount of wind but I remained dry, as did all my stuff. The pitch also meant no water gathered on the 'roof' which can be a problem ... Taylor was able to collect 4l of water off his tarp on Sunday morning.
I haven't tried the ShellTA out as anything other than a tarp yet but when I do I'll report back as to how I get on but so far I'm impressed.
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