Autumn’s arrival should not mean the end of enjoyable nights away, either by yourself or with friends. Bivvy bags are certainly not much fun when it is pouring with rain. So today I’mm going to encourage you to expand your microadventure kit list a little bit with the inclusion of a “basha”.

A “basha” is army slang for a simple shelter made from a tarpaulin. Rig this up over your bivvy bag and you’ll get a good sleep even in snow or heavy rain. It’s well worth the cost of just a few quid, the weight of a couple of hundred grams and the hassle of 1 minute’s assembly. (If, however, you are eager to spend money, then the Trailstar is great too, also anything by Alpkit).

I don’t want my blog to turn into af Ray Mears / Bear Grylls  survival against the apocalypse thing. So I’mll settle for showing you a photo, adding a couple of shopping links and leaving the rest to you to figure out. If you google “basha” you’ll see all sorts of fancy bashas. You can learn what to do from them.

All you need to do is work out a way to fix the tarp so that you are sheltered under it and it doesn’t blow away. Usually I tend to go for a very simple version like this:basha

If you have hiking poles (or a removable bike wheel), then you can rig something even when there are no trees around, like this.

Basha Kit

  1. Tarpaulin with eyelets. Get from a pound shop, B&Q or online. The size is up to you, but 8 foot x 10 foot is pretty luxurious. I have a 2 foot x 4 foot one for when I’mm being a bit daftly lightweight.
  2. Bungees. You’ll need at least 2, but up to 6 would increase the pitching options.
  3. Tent pegs. You’ll need at least 2, but up to 6 would increase the pitching options. Or use twigs.
  4. String. Optional to increase pitching options.
  5. Hiking poles / bike wheels. Optional to increase pitching options.

Let me know how you get on!