Portable Storm Shelter

Portable storm shelter FENCING Fence Systems 15-1-22 One man can set up this portable shelter in less than 5 min. and it'll stand up to the strongest winter winds to protect animals caught on the range in blizzards. Developed by Robert Jairell and R.A. Schmidt at the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station near Laramie, Wyo., the portable shelter consists of a pair of 5 by 8-ft. common corral panels, four 1 by 6 in. boards, four rubber cords with hooks on either end, and a solid plastic tarp sized to fit the two panels (5 by 16 ft.). Each end of the tarp is sandwiched between two 5-ft. long 1 by 6-in. boards, which are nailed together. An eye screw is screwed into the outside edge of each "sandwich", about 1 ft. from either end. To set up, the panels are set up at a 90? angle with the "V" pointing into the wind. Then the tarp is unrolled over the outside of the "V", using rubber cords to hold it in place at either end. "The shelter should be set up about 15 ft. upwind of the site to be protected. The wings will deflect snow on each side of the shelter, forming a drift-free protected area just downwind of the shelter," says Jairell, noting that the amount of wind will be reduced 60 to 80 percent within the first 25 ft. downwind of the shelter but will be reduced as much as 40 percent as far away as 50 ft. The shelters will remain stable in wind gusts up to 60 mph so long as wind keeps coming at the shelter from the back, but will tip over if wind shifts and enters from the sheltered side. Shelters can be staked to the ground. Jairell recommends using 3/4-in. reinforcing rod for stakes. "You can carry this shelter in the back of a light duty pickup and one person can set it up under blizzard conditions," notes Jairell. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, R.L. Jairell, USDA Forest Service, 222 South 22nd St., Laramie, Wyo. 82070 (ph 307 742-6621).

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