Shelter Half Uses
By: Tara
Myzie - 142d Co.G / Liberty Rifles
Introduction:
About two years ago I purchased my first authentic shelter half.
It was my last purchase of authentic gear as I had been putting
off buying one for some time. My first shelter half was
a standard unauthentic sutler row type and thus was very heavy, cumbersome and generally
a big pain in the butt. I hated it. I couldn't fit
it into my knapsack, it was too heavy to carry for long periods
of time, it was hot in the summer and it provided no protection
from the elements in foul weather. It was for those
reasons that I hesitated in investing in an authentic half.
It wasn't until I saw a used one for
sale that cost a little more than Uncle Sam paid for his in 186x
that I decided to get one. I haven't regretted it yet
and I would go so far as to say that it's one of my most
treasured possessions in the field.
The shelter half is
actually quite versatile and provides comfort in numerous
situations. Still there are some reenactors who feel that
the shelter half is unnecessary and is in fact useless.
While I still believe that it's not as necessary as some items
and should be one of your last purchases, I think that it can
play a large role in your impression and can help you get
through some tough weekends whether it's a humid, hot night or a
cold, snowy evening.
If you're not sure as
to what makes a shelter half "authentic" click on this link to
read about how one is constructed:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/lazyjacks/shelter.htm
To help you decide if
a shelter half is right for you I have listed some of its many
uses that I have discovered and witnessed. If you have
discovered a new use not listed here, feel free to
email this site and we'll post it here.
Shelter Tent
The first use is, of
course, the Shelter Tent. Each Federal soldier was issued one
shelter half and was expected to find a buddy to bunk with. The
pair would button
their halves together to make one large piece of canvas. If sticks
were available, they would use two of them as uprights and run the hemp
rope, (that was already tied to each half when it was issued) as a guy
line to support the center. Stakes (that were issued) or small
sticks (foraged) were used to stake the guy line and rope loops into the
ground. The simple illustration that I have drawn shows how a
Shelter Tent looks when set up using sticks as poles. If no sticks
for poles were available, the troops would fix bayonets and stick their
rifle, bayonet down, into the ground and run the guy line through the
trigger guard
of their rifle. While the shelter tent is not waterproof and will
not protect you in heavy steady downpours, it will provide adequate
protection from light intermittent rains.
Shebang
The second use of the
shelter half is the Shebang. The Shebang is a great little
cover that involves the buttoning together of two, four (shown
in the illustration on the right) or
more shelter halves to make one extra-large piece of canvas.
On a historical note, the 142d at Petersburg had shebangs that
were made with over 16 shelter halves each! The canvas is then laid over four wooden sticks or rifles to
make a more open, airy shelter. This type of shelter is
more often used as a means of providing shade from the sun on
hot days and because it is such an open shelter, it is quite
cool on hot nights.
Lean-to /
Heat Catcher
The third use involves using just your own little shelter half,
two sticks, and two stakes. With these items you can make
a lean-to,
which is similar to the shebang described above
except it's smaller. This little lean-to may not look like
much but it can provide you with comfort in two situations:
It can provide shade to you on a hot, sunny day and on a cold
night it can help provide you with enough warmth to sleep
comfortably. By setting up the lean-to next to a fire and
using two short sticks as poles, your lean-to will become a heat
shield that will catch the warmth of a fire and circulate it
back down onto you as you lie comfortably underneath it toasty
warm.
Cotton
Sheet
During the hot summer months I never leave my shelter half
behind. On those hot, humid nights when wool is most uncomfortable, a Federal Issue blanket can be your
worst enemy. I am somewhat allergic to wool and on steamy
nights I break out in the worst case of heat rash. For me
there is nothing worse than heat rash from an itchy, hot wool
blanket. The shelter half makes the perfect bed cover on
hot nights as it's made of light-weight cotton. What I
like to do is lay my oil cloth on the ground, fold my wool
blanket in half length-wise and lay it on top of the oil cloth.
Then I lay my gum blanket (canvas side up) on top of my wool
blanket to make a nice, soft, comfortable bed. All that is
left is to strip down to your drawers and undershirt and crawl
underneath your shelter half and enjoy a cool night's sleep.
Mattress
I witnessed a friend of mine one day take the most restful
outdoor nap ever on his shelter half which he was using in a
most ingenious way. He folded his shelter half in half and
took a bit of hemp rope and strung the rope through the numerous
button holes on three sides to make the shelter half into a bag.
He then filled the bag with pine needles and leaves to make a
big, cushy mattress. He then strung the rope through the
last side and laid down and fell asleep right away. Great
idea!
I hope that these
different uses will assist you in deciding on whether or not a
shelter half is right for you. If you think of anymore
uses for the shelter half,
email this site and we'll post them here.