Survival shelter tips?

[Unega waya]

I'm just now getting interested in survival skills and recently went into the woods to see if I could build a good shelter. It seemed pretty good to me personally, but it took me 4 hours to build because the sticks I put on the sides to let the dead leaves and stuff rest on kept falling off. I'd like to know some tips on survival shelter building and what if anything is wrong with this one. I would post a pic but I'm on my phone and it won't let me for some reason so I'll describe it. I leaned 4 big sticks against a tree into a half tipi shape and then layered sticks on the gaps between them and then piled leaves and debre on it to form walls and the middle I left open for a entrance. There was a small gap between the end sticks and the tree so I just piled leafs into the crack.

[hunter63]

Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome.
There is a intro section....place to stop and say hello.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions

The thread just bellows was on tips for making shelters....Must not have seen it...
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-how-to-guides

Lots of posting....including a E-book "Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties"...showing many primitive shelters.
https://archive.org/details/sheltersshackssh00bear

Having an idea of you experience, area, and material available would help others answer your questions.

[finallyME]

There really are no "special" tricks. It sounds like you did good. 4 hours is moving pretty fast. It takes a LONG time to build a good shelter....and that is if the materials are easy to get.

My advice.... keep practicing.

[crashdive123]

If you want to shoot for the extreme......

[Wildthang]

Every time you build a shelter you learn new tricks! It is mostly using common sense and experience!

[Rick]

That's a great video but I could build a rock house in about 8 house.

[hunter63]

That's a great video but I could build a rock house in about 8 hours.

.....if you have enough rocks......

....or dig a well every night with your Bug Out shovel?

This thread is starting to look like a drive by.

[Rick]

Yeah, that's the guy. I forgot about the well. (chuckle).

[hunter63]

I remember the rock guy as I was hauling rock for the banks behind and in front of "The Place".....and I was using a tractor!
Take a lot of rocks....and every fingernail is gonna get smashed, if you work at it long enough.

Four kinds of rocks.....one handers, two handers, bucket rocks and "leaverites" as in "leave her right there"

I just add a bucket load when I get the inspiration......
You have to remember ....a lot of the stone houses and castles were built by peasants and slaves.....not many around these days.

[TXyakr]

I prefer to think of it as techniques or skills not tricks or hacks (i.e. short cuts) but whatever makes sense to you "a rose by any other name" as Shakespeare once wrote.

As a kid we made stick/thatch/palm leaf shelters, also under ground shelters, these were a disaster when it rained a lot. Up in the tree shelters where better unless the winds were very strong. I really really like a strong, lightweight tarp such as silnylon or similar with bed pad (Klymit, add leaves/sand below it) or hammock which can be very simple like nylon or polyester table cloth tied at both ends. Rub mint or/and other herbs for insect repellent but no-see-um mesh over top even just as sheet of it is SOOO much better. Also if you can pitch a simple tarp or make lean-2 shelter up high where wind blows and rain does not swamp you (gets bedding wet) you will have fewer insects etc crawling on you and sucking/bitting you all night long. So that helps. Just my experience, I have been so tired after setting up camp and making shelter, filtering water, foraging for food that insects/mosquitos did not bother me. Sitting at fire they bite/suck blood thru my shirt and I don't notice because I am exhausted. After a few days I was covered in welts and looked like a pin cushion. Once I got back home after days of fun, my wife freaked out when she saw me especially my back. ha ha ha, boys will be boys. Now I try to remember to treat clothing and bedding with permethrin before heading out into wilderness. Pain and discomfort is only mental, block it out, embrace the suck. Enjoy the great outdoors, pack light so you can travel faster and further, see more nature and fewer people, that is how I roll. :-)

[hunter63]

Well, it seems that a lot of new members, new to the outdoors, young, or sound like they are.....join, and post questions like this.

THEY seem to think there is a "trick"(old term), (hack, new term).......and that when THEY ask, we are supposed to guess, where they are, for materials, how much experience, what tool the have, shills they have or don't....and tell them the SECRET.

There is no secret.....primitive shelter seen on TV are built and occupied in an hour....the real world isn't like that....and if you have ever built a debris shelter, dug out or snow cave they would know that.

I can see by the question...."Hey the leaves fell off my shelter, and took 4 WHOLE HOURS.......What am I doing wrong?"

Nothing....You watch TV too much, haven't done any research on your own, or tried to build something more than just once.

Yeah, dirty,... buggy, spiders, scorpions, snakes, ...muddy, NOT water proof (Mostly)....uncomfortable.....and yeah, you can sleep the third night, because you are too f&^%fing tired to care.
They are a survival shelter........ after you forgot, or lost, or ruined your tarps fly's, netting and comfort stuff.

[Wildthang]

I'll just keep carrying my tarp thank you. Can have It set up in minutes and no trudging all over gathering leaves and sticks! Guess I'm a lazy survivor!
After you build a few shelters, it's not fun anymore..........LOL

[TXyakr]

I'm just now getting interested in survival skills and recently went into the woods to see if I could build a good shelter. It seemed pretty good to me personally, but it took me 4 hours to build because the sticks I put on the sides to let the dead leaves and stuff rest on kept falling off. I'd like to know some tips on survival shelter building and what if anything is wrong with this one. I would post a pic but I'm on my phone and it won't let me for some reason so I'll describe it. I leaned 4 big sticks against a tree into a half tipi shape and then layered sticks on the gaps between them and then piled leaves and debre on it to form walls and the middle I left open for a entrance. There was a small gap between the end sticks and the tree so I just piled leafs into the crack.

This actually sound good, thanks for the report. Important factors as you probably learned first hand (much better than reading online, youtube or in a book) include but not limited to are build on high ground (not easily flooded), near your source of materials (less time hauling) and start early! I use fingers against sun to horizon to make sure I have 4-6 hours before sun set and if no clouds perhaps hour of light after that. Hope no major Thunderstorm slows me down. This is why a super compact light weight SilNylon or polyester coated tarp or just a cheap one from Walmart is SUPER helpful. SilNylon or Cuben Fiber fits in your pants pocket, cargo pocket etc. but a military poncho is also very useful and multipurpose, tarp or walking/hiking weather protection better than holding leaves over your head. Also I prefer clothes that dry fast as base layer, even in summer you can get hypothermic.

It takes a lot of leaves and sticks layer after layer to shed water effectively and at a fairly steep angle. Then if a strong wing blows or a branch falls on it, all is lost, you go hypothermic. So make is just barely big enough to craw into, trap heat and not waste materials, unless you are going to stay there for several days. If moving from site to site, wake up at first sound of birds when dawn begins to break move when you can see well enough to not stumble on path to get to next site early to start next camp setup. I function this way at BLM, NPS, National Forests, Wildlife Refuge areas so I have best selection of sites and avoid afternoon heat but mostly to give most time to set up camp and find food. Fish, small game, herbs, starch etc. The more you can forage the less you must carry, the faster you can move and the longer you can stay out there, away for stresses of civilization, ... work, clients, family demands, traffic, etc. Most folks who did not grow up in the wilderness or in elite branches of military don't adapt well to this style of camping, a few do but they are the rare exception.

[TXyakr]

If you want to shoot for the extreme......

This did not look overly extreme to me, except that the final shelter was NOT done in a day or two!!! The basic pole barn shelter can be made quickly. Clear brush, then especially if you use an existing tree or two, use your tarp for the first night then gather palm fronds and use properly for the second night, sticks and mud/clay walls take much longer if you are not committed to an area just use palm fronds or fur branches or something similar to block wind. Chimney is WAY more than I would ever bother with for a temporary wilderness survival shelter, that fellow must have a woman or something, but his bed was very narrow, ha ha ha. Perhaps his girlfriend complained he smelled like dirt and smoke. Hey! I resemble that remark. I just hope his girlfriend liked it when he finally showed the shack to her. She was probably like "What a pile of sticks, leaves and mud?! You spent a MONTH on THIS? I'm out of here!"

BTW does demonstrate importance of a steel blade, stone especially very crude is PITA!!! But can work in worst case, all skin on you hands will be gone in a few hours unless you are extremely well prepared for it.

I have lived in homes/shelters similar to this but larger, they are fine, when the army ants came we either diverted them or grabbed everything food and fabric let them clear out the other insects and then returned when they were done. More effective than Terminix but they have a crazy middle of the night schedule and not long residual effect. Sound is also a little Creepy when you hear them coming, ha ha ha, OMG we are going to die from an army of ants!!! Leave the hut NOW!!!

[kyratshooter]

Cyber John, every post you make lacks any direct information and diverts the people coming here for information to another website with its own adds and commercial offers.

Do you have any information you can transfer to us that does not involve going to another website and buying one of your guides or books?

[hunter63]

[QUOTE=CyberJohn;494148]Hey there! Here are some tips that would really help you!
********************
That your site?...If so is considered Spam in the body of the post....
Is allowed in your signature.

Seems I can't get past the pop-up wanting my e-mail address for my Free Tips.
No thanks....I get enough "stuff" in my inbox as it is....

[finallyME]

Seems I can't get past the pop-up wanting my e-mail address for my Free Tips.
No thanks....I get enough "stuff" in my inbox as it is....

But... they are FREE tips. You don't even have to pay for them. All you have to do is sign up and receive advertisements from them for as long as you have that email. What is wrong with that?

[hunter63]

But... they are FREE tips. You don't even have to pay for them. All you have to do is sign up and receive advertisements from them for as long as you have that email. What is wrong with that?

I'm sure it not would fit in my In-box, with all the other "Free stuff"...
Viagra, Ready Loans, Car Insurance, Over-seas Meds, to say nothing about daily e-mails for ads for EVERYTHING I Have ever ordered" since Al Gore invented the interweb....and every Restaurant that has given out a "Survey and a chance of winning $5000 .......and the cute kitty e-mails, and jokes,... SIL political ravings and forwarded references for TEOTWAWKI........AND my chance to get 20 mil. by sending $1,752 bucks to my buddy in Nigeria...He is a prince, ya know.
I could go on... but it is depressing.....

I keep the Puppy pic's, GS Pic's...and a couple of other actual e-mails, that have gotten thru over the years.

Still can't figure out where the "Wives from Philippines" ads came from.....
So, no, I don't need Free Tips that bad.
But thanks for your concern..

[crashdive123]

His posts and links have been removed for the time being.

[Antonyraison]

I'm just now getting interested in survival skills and recently went into the woods to see if I could build a good shelter. It seemed pretty good to me personally, but it took me 4 hours to build because the sticks I put on the sides to let the dead leaves and stuff rest on kept falling off. I'd like to know some tips on survival shelter building and what if anything is wrong with this one. I would post a pic but I'm on my phone and it won't let me for some reason so I'll describe it. I leaned 4 big sticks against a tree into a half tipi shape and then layered sticks on the gaps between them and then piled leaves and debre on it to form walls and the middle I left open for a entrance. There was a small gap between the end sticks and the tree so I just piled leafs into the crack.

Hi And welcome, its hard to give advice on shelters, as I cant determine your terrain and vegetation,etc.
However it sounds like you did ok, a some what decent waterproof shelter can take a long time to build.
The tips I can give for shelter building are the following;
1. check the area you choose to build shelter for widow makers (ie, look above you if there is anything that can fall and badly hurt you)
2. check the floor; clear area of dangers.. (obviously you dont want to camp in a viper Pit)
3. build your shelter small, as small as it can be (just big enough to fit over you) will make the shelter keep heat better... by small I just mean the area between you and the shelter is not a large area, you want to trap your own body heat as best as you can to keep you warm.
4. Use the natural terrain (seems like you did) as part of shelter, i e if there is a big dead tree on ground you could use that to as the back bone,etc
5.the type of natural materials you have available would likely determine what type of shelter you would build.
6. You may want to be off the ground (so A raised bed maybe useful)
7. a layer beneath you is worth 3 layers above you, you always want to insulate yourself best as possible from the direct ground (quiet a few ppl make this mistake) you lose a lot of heat due to the ground sucking it out of you, so pile those leaves,hay or grass or whatever thickly under yourself.
8. dont pitch your shelter on game trails..
9. always consider the weather, like if you fear a thunder storm, maybe camping under the biggest trees will not be a great idea.
10. weather conditions can turn fast, so make sure your shelter is sturdy, as water proof as you can get it, you never make a fully natural shelter totally water proof..and make sure its well insulated to keep you warm at night and dry, and cool during the day out of the heat of the sun at its peak times. --- EXTREMELy important for Africa, it gets damn hot.. remeber you protecting yourself from hyperthermia, and or hypomertmia.
That all being said I find the best ones for me to build are small A frame type shelters, or kennel shelters