Survive Without Style - the Ultimate Garbage Bag Shelter

Many years ago I went on a hitchhike adventure through France. I started in Flanders, made it to Frances most western point and descended the magnificent French coast to the surfing beeches on the border with Spain. From there it went straight eastward, direction the Mediterranean Sea.

The more I hitchhiked through that part of the country, the less I hitched. My Tour Of France became a real walking trip. I enjoyed the land, the smell, the people & its wildlife. In that order, though - not the smell of the wild people on the land.

One day I arrived on a place called Iraty. Instead of the usual stinky sheep & occasional - but also stinky - cyclists the pass was crowded with a whole different sort of people: boys & girls with binoculars & scopes. It seemed that pure accidentally I hit one of Europes hotspots for the spectacular autumn migration of raptors & storks. I really never heard about that place before - being young, you know - and since I already stayed on some other migration spots before I decided to stay a few days.

Those few days became two months.

When I finally decided to go on with my trek to the blue coasts, autumn had fell and the nights were getting really cold in those mountains.

There was one problem: I had no tent & no decent sleeping bag. And also no money. Or not enough, let's say.

Instead of changing my plans, I decided to improvise. So I went to the local market, and bought a roll of garbage bags, some powertape & double sided tape, a cheap foam carpet and a survival blanket. And also a sixpack of orange juice. And a few beers. That's the official story.

In a bit more than an hour I built something that didn't look like anything else, but what proved to be one of the best shelters I ever had.

I heard about garbage bag survival before and I tested it once, but with this creation I tilted it to another level. No kidding.

Yesterday I built that shelter again, in the last beams of sunlight. Just like then.

Driven by fun, this time. Not by necessity.

The Concept

Like I said, 'garbage bag survival' is nothing new.

No matter what manual or instructable you read about it, they're all more or less the same: 'take a garbage bag and sleep in it.'

This concept has some advantages: those bags are cheap, those bags are light and ... yes, those bags are cheap and also light.

They have also one big disadvantage: condensation. They don't 'breath' and thus water vapour will condensate on every cold surface - aka the whole bag. So when you wake up you'll be soaked like a cat.

I truly hate garbage bag survival. And even more those who write good things about it.

So instead of staying in my corner hating things, I want to show you this upgrade.

Because I care about all of you and because IT WORKS LIKE CRAZY!

This is the cheapest heavy duty 'tent' ever.

And you're gonna make it.

You'll need: 8 garbage bags, 1 cheap camping carpet, 1 survival blanket (mylar), 1 roll of powertape, 1 roll of double sided tape & 4 screwable juice/sugar/whatever recipients. And a few meters of paracord.

Total cost: 20$. Try to get a tent for that.

Preparing the Bottom (optional)

If you want to protect that fragile carpet it might be a good idea to protect the bottom of it with a few garbage bags.

Tape 4 garbage bags together (2x2).

Tape both sides for more strenght.

Don't tape both sides for less weight.

Finishing the Bottom

Add a few bands of double sided tape to the right side of the carpet and stick the result of step 1 to it.

That's all. Ready is the bottom of your tent.

Preparing the Roof (not Optional)

You're going to make a high-isolation roof. Not only it will protect you against rain & postapocalyptic fall-out, but it will also keep you warm.

Making such a roof isn't complicated, but you have to do it right:

take 4 individual bags
tape them 2 by 2 together - BOTTOM TO BOTTOM aka the openings at the extremities
tape those 2 duos together - long side to long side
tape also the sutures on the back side - double tape everywhere

Finishing the Roof

Not only the roof will act as a pillow, it will also reflect your body heat.

Did you know that 4 garbage bags taped together are almost the same size as a survival blanket?

You'll discover, once you taped them together with that magic double sided stuff.

A Plus B

The picture isn't really representive, it's just me taping the roof to the bottom.

Nothing complicated: 2m of powertape at each side and done it is.

Very helpful: a few meter of paracord taped over the whole length in the middle of the roof.

Brown Sugar

To make this project a winner you really need to find something with a screwable cover aka a valve. Whatever that something may be - mine was brown sugar in really handy bags - you'll cut it in half and insert in each bag.

Doing it the right way:

add double sided stuff on the valves
insert those pieces in each bag and let just the cover peep out - that's why the openings had to be on the outside
close what's left of the bag-openings with whatever tape you have
air-tight, don't go for less

The concept:

Those valves will allow you to blow air in the 4 bags to improve their isolation. Thanx to that, condensation inside the tent won't have a chance.

Why? You know, condensation is water that goes from vapour to liquid. The key to this is cold air or a cold surface. Warm air on a cold surface will give you tears, warm air that cools down will give you clouds. Do you have condensation on your double glass inside your house? I don't think so, because the only surface that can get cold is the one in contact with the cruel outside world. Between the two glass sheets smart guys have put a gaz, not common air, to prevent energy exchange between them - called 'isolation'.

The difference between this and the garbage concept? None, in fact. Set aside that we're only using 'common air' from your lungs instead of nitrogen or argon. Will there be condensation IN the bags? Of course there will - unless you're able to spit dry air. Just open the valve and set those few droplets free.