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Belgian Shelter Half, Green, Surplus
A rectangular shelter-half/rain poncho of very peculiar design. Works anywhere you need a large, waterproof piece of canvas: on a camping trip, at festivals, or at war.
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Reviews (4 pcs)
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A rectangular shelter-half/rain poncho of very peculiar design. Works anywhere you need a large, waterproof piece of canvas: on a camping trip, at festivals, or at war.
In ye olden days, soldiers were often issued with half a tent each and when the time came, they would pair up to assemble their tent and crawl into it to escape the hard world.
The set would normally comprise of the shelter half, carrying a bag that doubles as a hood, a multi-piece pole, and some pegs and guylines. Available now are only the shelter fabrics themselves, in two slightly different designs.
One model has buttons and the other has snap fasteners. The latter is slightly lighter and has more sail grommets. The different models are not compatible with each other! By attaching several sheets together, you can build anything from a 2-man tent up to an airplane hangar.
Belgian outlandish thinking strikes again
To flip off other NATO countries, probably, the Belgians made their shelter half rectangular as most Eastern Bloc countries did during the Cold War. Then, they discarded the idea of having drawstrings to wear the sheet as a rain poncho and made an opening roughly in the center for the head. Not straight as on the US rain poncho, though, but diagonal. Further, to confuse everyone, they made the hood a separate item that doubles as a carrying pouch for the sheet and also has a feature called "being able to disappear".
Each side of the sheet has buttons or snap fasteners and the corners have sail grommets for tent poles and attachment.
Despite its unique design, the Belgian shelter half is entirely serviceable both as a lavvu fabric and rain cape.
Technical specifications
| Item | Metric | Imperial |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 174 cm | 68.5" |
| Width | 159 cm | 62.6" |
| Weight (w. Snap fasteners) | 1.2 kg | 2.6 lbs. |
| Weight (w. Buttons) | 1.3 kg | 2.9 lbs. |
Belgian Surplus
These have not been used and buttonholes are tight as virgins. Due to army-style storage, however, the fabrics smell pretty bad and metal pieces may have oxidation and patina on them.
Kierto Circular Economy
Return this product used but clean and unbroken, and you'll receive half of the product's original price as Varusteleka credits. Service is available only in Finland. Only Registered users can make Kierto returns. See more information about Kierto.
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4 ratings
Kaloyan P. 07.11.2020 Verified purchase
I bought 2x of the popper version.
As a poncho it sits very nicely and is a good size. With the addition of a custom hood this should be very functional.Nevertheless I'm a bit disappointed with the design when put together as a shelter. The Ridgeline has a total of 6 large grommets along it that line up and is only 173cm long. So unless you cover these you'll be guaranteed to get wet as it can rain straight through. I had assumed the double poppers would fold over each other and both be engaged to make a stronger and tighter seal but in fact only one row of poppers is used.
The description wasn't lying, this is a funky design! In heindsight perhaps the buttoned version is a better choice for use as a shelter. Either will do well as a poncho
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Johan G. 03.03.2021 Verified purchase
Still really cool though.
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Donn F. 05.08.2021 Verified purchase
(It smells of Belgian army surplus stored in a Finland warehouse, but nothing to be ashamed of).
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David G. 01.09.2021 Verified purchase
What I've guessed to be the ridgeline is the easiest edge to button up as you just line up the button holes and then decide which row of buttons your going to fasten, the ends that act as the door ways are a bit odd as the top half of them the buttons fasten facing out and the bottom half of them fasten facing inside but if you plan on using it with the ends open that's not a massive issue.
As a poncho, depending on your height and whether your carrying any equipment under or over it it and your walking with your arms hung at your sides it should cover most or all of your body, as a tent if your vertically challenged (say 5 foot 7 or less) 2 fitted together accordingly should suit fine however if your any taller than that and want to use these as a tent you'll want 4 as having put my 2 together and looked at it and read the length measurements shown here afterwards its about 2 to 3 inches too short to cover all of me length wise.
Definitely a handy item to have stashed in a bag or something though for if your caught out in bad weather, will certainly outlast most, if not all, fancy waterproofs and is a genuine one size fits all (less the abnormally tall) and unlike most surplus items isn't battered to within an inch of its life and held together with 4 rolls worth of assorted tape and countless stitched repairs.
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Hi! They are actually the Finnish SA boots! The trousers are Swedish prisoner issue pants - unfortunately we will never get a re-stock on those babes :---(
But the shirt! It's our Särmä TST Woolshell Jacket! An amazing product that I truly recommend!
Our guy truly knows his stuff
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