A-frame shelter

H

Halcon

Joined
Dec 20, 2001
Messages
114
I just wanted to put this out there.

Christopher Nyerges, Dude McLean, and I have a site, "dirttime.com." This site is just a compilation of articles we've had in "Wilderness Way" magazine. Some of those articles are from us and some from other folks who have given us articles.

Our most recent article is from our good friend, John McCann, author of "Build the perfect Survival Kit".

here it is for your enjoyment >>>>>a-frame shelter

Alan Halcon
 
Nice shelter, thanks for sharing it Alan. Looks very labor intensive for the time of year that he constructed it. Worth it in the long run though.
 
thanks for the link..:thumbup: i was just looking at that issue of WW a few days ago... john is a cool dude.. i have ordered stuff from his site in th past... his book is great too...:thumbup:
 
cool shelter. Too bad all that birch bark and leaves make it a large tinder bundle.
 
Halcon said:
I just wanted to put this out there.

Christopher Nyerges, Dude McLean, and I have a site, "dirttime.com." This site is just a compilation of articles we've had in "Wilderness Way" magazine. Some of those articles are from us and some from other folks who have given us articles.

Our most recent article is from our good friend, John McCann, author of "Build the perfect Survival Kit".

here it is for your enjoyment >>>>>a-frame shelter

Alan Halcon
Click to expand...


alan-- i know you folks are in so. cal... here is a link for a traditional archery shoot i attend every year... i think you and dude would have a great time... if you guys want to check it out drop me a line.... allscared@yahoo.com there's lots of primtive folks there, building bows, atlatls and flint-knapping all day long...

mike

http://www.tbcarchery.com/Chamberlin/Chamberlin2008ShootFlyerDates.html
 
I dont understand open shelters. All that insulation and the wind blows straight in.

The point is to trap heat. Digging into large pile of leaves would give more insulation.

What is the point of spending 5 hrs constructing a shelter and weaving bark etc... and then putting a tarp on top. Take a bigger tarp and use it, sets up in seconds.

Its a fine looking shelter dont get me wrong. Its well over engineered but seems too labor intensive for what you get in the end.

Good site thanks for sharing.

My 2 cents.

Skam
 
I've really enjoyed that site since I saw your link to it on Hoodlums:thumbup:

Very nice of y'all to put that together for the enjoyment of all:thumbup:
 
Ottoshot said:
cool shelter. Too bad all that birch bark and leaves make it a large tinder bundle.
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It was cool to see how it is done. It did cross my mind too that you wouldn't want to be too close to a fire. In my local forest it would be green fir and hemlock boughs rather than leaves, so it would be a little less scary. Hehehe-- it would take a while to pile fir needles that thick :)
 
Me and my friends have taken a couple of private workshops with John...he's a cool hombre for sure.
 
thanks guys.

Skammer, if ya build it right you won't get any wind into it; moreover, you have wiggle room for extra gear.

I've burrowed into leaves before, and it works, but this provides shelter for you and allows you to cover yourself with a quilt, blanket, or whatever else.

This shelter is superior to a lean-to in that it creates more dead air space (insulation).
 
I have to agree with Skammer's post in that you do not want a spark anywhere near that thing if you are going to fall asleep with a fire going. Ditto on the tarp,lest you not have a tarp I've done the buried in leaves before and stayed comfortable through 3 nights. I always gauge the energy I have to expend for an activity vs what I will get out of that activity while in the Bush. You cannot over emphasis the loss of calories consumed while building a shelter if you are in a food scarce situation. It was a nicely built shelter nonetheless...

Knappin' eh? Long bows too? Atals? man that's a great outing!
 
1Tracker said:
I have to agree with Skammer's post in that you do not want a spark anywhere near that thing if you are going to fall asleep with a fire going. Ditto on the tarp,lest you not have a tarp I've done the buried in leaves before and stayed comfortable through 3 nights. I always gauge the energy I have to expend for an activity vs what I will get out of that activity while in the Bush. You cannot over emphasis the loss of calories consumed while building a shelter if you are in a food scarce situation. It was a nicely built shelter nonetheless....
Click to expand...

That's what I carry a poncho and bivy, even on a day hike. I hike in the Western Cascades and Olympics-- you aren't going to live long without shelter from cold rain.

To me, knowing how to build a debris shelter is like learning to use a fire bow-- if you have a knife you can get by from scratch and you might even pull it off with a sharp rock. Pray you never have to use the skill and pray that you can if you ever need it.
 
Cool, I was thinking of shelters last night, I was thinking of a good sized semi permanent shelter with a fireplace and rock wall to reflect the heat back, but your points about insulation are good ones.
 
Halcon said:
thanks guys.

Skammer, if ya build it right you won't get any wind into it; moreover, you have wiggle room for extra gear.

.
Click to expand...

Wind maybe but the point of dead airspace is that its dead and small thus can be heated some by the body.

If you built that sheter in dead winter at 20 below with no secondary close heat source youd freeze to death. The same principal I describe is used by the Inuit in Northern Canada. There is no open sides to their shelters igloo's its enclosed to trap ambient heated air.

When I build a debris hut I have to tunnel into it. There is virtually no airspace between me and the roof, less air to heat less circulation = warmer.

The biggest mistake I see students make when teaching shelters is 2 fold.

1) They are way to big allowing too much air to circulate.
2) Not near enough ground insulation causing massive conductive heat loss.

Mileage will vary.

Skam
 
Bushman5 said:
some of our igloos are over 20 feet across inside and heat up just fine.
Click to expand...

With secondary heat sources and multiple people, I lived in one in the NWT for 3 weeks.;)

Their emergency igloos are much smaller for one person. The dome design is very efficient at retaining heat. The point is they are sealed no drafts and a relative amount of area to heat per person.

Skam
 
skammer, I agree! a debris shelter has less dead airspace. I also agree most shelters are made too big and many folks don't use enough ground insulation.

LOL, however, I don't expect at 20 below to find too much edbris to make a shelter, anyway.

This shelter is really intended for a longer term use Obviously, if one is in dire need, they will not spend the time making this.

Also, like the igloo, a door can be made for this shelter as well.


Alan
 
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