Survivalist

I wanted to try this garbage bag-turned-into-a-bivy sack idea i read about on the net. It claims waterproof quality, but without the breathability of Gore-tex. It is actually two black garbage bags taped together to make a bivy sack. It can hold one person in a sleeping bag. The backpack and other gear have to go in a separate garbage bag.

Moreover, I've been reading Ultralight and Minimalist backpacking forums on tarp shelters.
Three aluminum tent poles, four pegs, guy lines, shock cord, and a small 5x5ft tarp i took from an old tent made up my new "minimalist" tarp shelter.
It really is a valuable piece of gear.
For one thing, it's real light and takes a minimal amount of space. Tent poles aside, the whole shelter can be packed into the side pocket of my Habagat Nailig.
It's free-standing too, it doesnt need to be lashed to a tree, which is useful in places such as Mt. Batulao or Talamitam. However, it can also be lashed between two trees and serve as a canopy above a hammock.
But the most amazing thing about it is it's "survivability." This shelter is not like those high-tech "tadpole" TNF or MSR tents, but it had a pretty similar design. It had a small opening (to be positioned on the leeward side), and a rather sharp "tail" that was to deflect the wind by being positioned on the windward side. Last week, I set the shelter up in our front yard one afternoon and left it there overnight. I wanted to see if it would last the pretty strong winds and rain brought about by the typhoon Pepeng. The next morning the tent was still standing contrary to my expectations that the tarp would be ripped apart and the tent poles bent or broken as it was a pretty strong typhoon.

I have all the basic equipment i need for a trip to Mt. Batulao. Shelter, food, cookset and stove, water, and an emergency kit, and they fit in my backpack.

I will try camping out in a hill near my place tomorrow night to "finetune" the shelter and to see if all my gear is sufficient.

Heck, if the shelter comes apart, I still have that garbage bag, or if worse comes to worst, I'll just have to look for a cave.