What would you do if you were stuck in the middle of nowhere in a rainstorm and had no umbrella? Better yet, what if you were camping or hiking and forgot to bring an umbrella or rain poncho? Or maybe, the sun’s rays were particularly brutal and you needed a little relief that an umbrella could offer. Never fear! With a little ingenuity and a few items handy, you can improvise your own umbrella. It may not be pretty, but it will keep you protected a bit!

First of all, a few of these items you may not normally carry in your backpack or camping equipment. For the sake of argument, we are going to pretend that you do have them. And in the future, plan to pack them as part of your normal gear. Here are those items that could come in handy when improvising your umbrella:

1. Material for the canopy of your umbrella – This can be a heavy duty garbage bag or tarp. A solar blanket is also a possible alternative.

2. Duct tape is an item that should be in everyone’s vehicle and on their camp packing list. There are a multitude of uses for it.

3. Framing materials – Coat hangers and a large dowel rod could work. But since that these items may not be available, you can make do with a long sturdy tree branch that can be fashioned into the umbrella handle and four to six wood branches that are flexible and can withstand a little bending without breaking. These branches will serve as the “spokes” that will form the frame of the umbrella canopy cover.

4. A knife or scissors – You will need something sharp to whittle or cut off parts of the tree branches as well as cut the pieces of tape and canopy material.

Ok, now you are ready as you ever will be for creating your improvised umbrella. Start off by deciding on how big your umbrella will be. Take a look at your branches that will serve as the framing and choose one that looks like it would suit your needs. Pare down the other branches so that they all will be relatively the same size.

Next, take two sticks and form a cross at their middles. Use the duct tape and wrap it around the middle multiple times to hold in place. Then take the long stick that will serve as the handle and tape it to the middle intersection of the cross, leaving about three inches at the top. Be sure to wrap that duct tape tightly multiple times until fairly sturdy.

Repeat the process of making a cross with two more sticks. Next, position the middle of this cross to the other side of the stick handle. Use the duct tape and wrap it around not only the cross and stick handle but also the first cross as well. Once you are done, it should look like a very crude asterisk shape on the end of your long stick that is serving as the umbrella handle.

The next step is to cut out your canopy material several inches larger than the diameter of your umbrella branch frame. Once you have cut out a rough circle, push that three inch tip that was left at the top of your stick handle through the middle of the canopy material.

Use the duct tape to tape any gaps and holes left behind from pushing the stick through. Next, you will want to use the over hanging canopy material and duct tape it securely to each of the frame “spokes” of the umbrella. Duct tape the underside of the canopy material to the sticks as well.

Keep in mind that this umbrella you improvised might be a little heavy! What you have now after all that duct taping is a crude but serviceable umbrella that can protect your from the rain and provide some shade from the sun.