













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.
Loading products...













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 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.
Recommendations
Loading products...
Reviews
You have already submitted a review. You can edit your text by clicking on it.
Log in and write a review.





recommends
1 ratings

Kaloyan P. 07.11.2020 (Edited 07.11.2020)
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


Comments
Comment this or discuss with other Varusteleka regular users. If you wish to ask us anything, please click on the message button on the right side of the page. You can also send us email or call us! Log in and join the conversation.
Please report this text if for example:
If you strongly disagree with this text, please press thumb down button.
Thank you!
Cancel