Oh, a storm is threatning
My very life today
If I dont get some shelter
Oh yeah, Im gonna fade away Rolling Stones.
Welcome to the Shelter Thread
All things Shelter related, hopefully. We've heard the rule of 3's many times.....
You can die from starvation in 3 weeks
You can die from dehydration in 3 days
But you can die of exposure in 3 HOURS.
(and you can die of lack of air in 3 minutes)
When I learned it , it was rule of 2's, but, who's arguing...we know we need Shelter to survive in the wilderness.
facing Exposure and making Shelter is what someone has to focus on when they find themselves in a survival situation. I must agree with something Doc wrote in the past couple of days, Fire and Shelter and deeply intertwined. I can't agree more.
With some decent shelter and a small fire, there is a lot you can endure. You can ensure your immediate survival for 24 to 48 hrs. and allow for tings like water procurement, getting your bearings, and all else further down the survival checklist.
A good knife and some cordage cn be the two most important thing you have with you, when it comes to Sheltering.
SHELTER types:
The Debris Hut seems to get a lot of the focus, it's a good shelter, insulated, an can guard against the cold pretty well, with enough debris piled on top.
What other shelters are there? The simple tarp. A poncho even.
A person gets lost, or somehow finds themselves at dusk needing some quick shelter. if they have a tarp, poncho, spaceblanket or anything along those lines, They can rapidly deploy shelter.
The most immediate Shelter is ones own clothing. if you are wearing the right stuff, and layers, you can endure a situation much better. Out for a hike in only shorts and a tee shirt, and find dusk falling , along with temps, and you can get real cold real quickly.
A fast moving rain shower can drench someone in cool water in a very short order, even in the summer. Hypothermia can happen in the summer too.
Continuing with the Layered approach....
Your first layer is what you are wearing, your second layer may be that jacket or poncho you packed, your 3rd layer may be a space blanket, it may be your debris shelter, or your tarp.
Ponchos. I'm a believer in ponchos. Take a page from the military, they study, perform testing, and do the research to equip the troops. the troops get ponchos. I've used them in torrential downpours. I think the longest I have worn a poncho continuously is about 3 days. That's plenty, thank you. the downside is they can make you perspire in warmer climates, but, the upside is you will stay warmer than if being drenched by rain.
the poncho can also serve as the roof of a wilderness shelter, or even a means for shade in the mid summer sun.
Tarps. Painter's tarps, pieces of clear plastic, a large garbage bag. Anything that can keep the rain off of you, and/or act as wind barrier is going to go a long way to keeping you warmer, dryer, and most importantly ALIVE. A 4x6 would probably be about minimum you'd want, a 6x8 piece of plastic would be almost heaven. well, 6x10 would be heaven.
It becomes a space issue when packing.
Space blanket. Those crinkly, noisy, silvery modern wonders.
Quick story: A friend of mine bought 2 of them when they hit the market way back.
He grabbed a little gear, and his girlfriend, and went off to go camping.
Summertime, fortunately. No sleeping bags, he told her that he had heard these things work and would keep themj warm. only 2 spaceblankets.
They froze their asses off.
Of course, they went to higher elevations, were only dressed for summer walks, and when temps went down to low 60s high 50s that night, they froze their butts off. Also they stayed awake most of the night due to the crinkly sound of the space blankets everytime someone moved.
Space blankets can help keep you Alive, but they aren't going to do it alone.
With proper clothing, and maybe a debris hut, tarp or whatever, you add the space blanket as your personal outer layer and it will help, no doubt. They are designed to keep you ALIVE by refelcting any personal heat you are radiating.
Try not to rely solely on the Space blanket. Help the Space Blanket, and it can help you.
A Teepee.
Teepees don't get a lot of notoriety, but, if you have a decent sized tarp, or two ponchos, you can put up a makeshift teepee in 1/10th the time it takes to make a debris hut. Minimum of 5 or 6 sticks, anywhere from 6 to 8 feet long, allow them to intersect up high, lash them at the top, press them into the ground, and wrap your tarp around like an upside down funnel. Lay some sticks on the outside to hold the tarp in place. If you leave a vent hole, you can have a small personal fire, right there with you. Teepee walls have very steep angles, thus, shed water very well.
You will have to keep the base area to a modest size, unless you are carrying lots of tarp material. You can maximize the height by tarping the higher area, and using debris down low to finish around the base. The survival teepee will be pretty small, and you may have to sleep in a seated position, or curled up, but, thats what you give in trade for the expediancy in set up.
Lean To. A picture is worth 1000 words. This guy is chillin in his Lean To crib. http://www.swansea.gov.uk/media/images/3/9/lean_too_lying_shot_50_.jpg Typically fire is reflected into the Lean To by using rocks or a stack of wood, as pictured. here is another link showing the skeleton frame and reflective wall. http://www.scoutingresources.org.uk/images/pioneering_shelter07.jpg
Downside is , you are more exposed to open air. I think of summer time temps, or southern lattitudes when I think of a Lean To shelter. A lean to can be pretty expediant, and can be situated to block wind. Typically they are used in conjunction with fire, going back again, to Docs point about fire and Shelter being closely linked.
Back to the basic concern of exposure. Think insulation. Dead air space makes good insulation. A pile of leaves, stacks of evergreen boughs, whatever you can find to trap air, and cut down on air flow from the outside world.
Sleeping in a big pile of leaves is better than fully exposed, check for spiders and varmints first, please. You can make a "wilderness rake" to help gather piles of leaves. find some tree limbs that branch into 3 or 4 sections.
Cut two of them about 6 to 7 feet long and lash them together, slice off the smaller branches even, and you have a makeshift 6 or 8 prong rake. It beats bending over and sweeping leaves with your hands. the leaves are gonig to come in handy for bedding, debris walls, and all around shelter insulation.
STAYING OFF THE COLD GROUND
Anyone who has even slept on a tent floor, without a barrier, knows the ground will suck heat from your body like a Hoover Vac. Simply put, build a nest! Leaves, Pine boughs, tall grasses, reeds, anything to give yourself some insulation from the cold ground. the positive side effect is also a little comfort. Don't deny yourself comfort wherever you can find it, there isn't much to go around in this type of situation, so, take it when you can get it.
Well, that's what I have in my head at the moment, hope it helps someone, somewhere, if only to remind them of examples and the importance of shelter.
Please add any thoughts, hints, tricks, alternate Shelters, or expand on anything contained within. thanks.
This is the Shelter thread. enjoy!!
My very life today
If I dont get some shelter
Oh yeah, Im gonna fade away Rolling Stones.
Welcome to the Shelter Thread
All things Shelter related, hopefully. We've heard the rule of 3's many times.....
You can die from starvation in 3 weeks
You can die from dehydration in 3 days
But you can die of exposure in 3 HOURS.
(and you can die of lack of air in 3 minutes)
When I learned it , it was rule of 2's, but, who's arguing...we know we need Shelter to survive in the wilderness.
facing Exposure and making Shelter is what someone has to focus on when they find themselves in a survival situation. I must agree with something Doc wrote in the past couple of days, Fire and Shelter and deeply intertwined. I can't agree more.
With some decent shelter and a small fire, there is a lot you can endure. You can ensure your immediate survival for 24 to 48 hrs. and allow for tings like water procurement, getting your bearings, and all else further down the survival checklist.
A good knife and some cordage cn be the two most important thing you have with you, when it comes to Sheltering.
SHELTER types:
The Debris Hut seems to get a lot of the focus, it's a good shelter, insulated, an can guard against the cold pretty well, with enough debris piled on top.
What other shelters are there? The simple tarp. A poncho even.
A person gets lost, or somehow finds themselves at dusk needing some quick shelter. if they have a tarp, poncho, spaceblanket or anything along those lines, They can rapidly deploy shelter.
The most immediate Shelter is ones own clothing. if you are wearing the right stuff, and layers, you can endure a situation much better. Out for a hike in only shorts and a tee shirt, and find dusk falling , along with temps, and you can get real cold real quickly.
A fast moving rain shower can drench someone in cool water in a very short order, even in the summer. Hypothermia can happen in the summer too.
Continuing with the Layered approach....
Your first layer is what you are wearing, your second layer may be that jacket or poncho you packed, your 3rd layer may be a space blanket, it may be your debris shelter, or your tarp.
Ponchos. I'm a believer in ponchos. Take a page from the military, they study, perform testing, and do the research to equip the troops. the troops get ponchos. I've used them in torrential downpours. I think the longest I have worn a poncho continuously is about 3 days. That's plenty, thank you. the downside is they can make you perspire in warmer climates, but, the upside is you will stay warmer than if being drenched by rain.
the poncho can also serve as the roof of a wilderness shelter, or even a means for shade in the mid summer sun.
Tarps. Painter's tarps, pieces of clear plastic, a large garbage bag. Anything that can keep the rain off of you, and/or act as wind barrier is going to go a long way to keeping you warmer, dryer, and most importantly ALIVE. A 4x6 would probably be about minimum you'd want, a 6x8 piece of plastic would be almost heaven. well, 6x10 would be heaven.
It becomes a space issue when packing.
Space blanket. Those crinkly, noisy, silvery modern wonders.
Quick story: A friend of mine bought 2 of them when they hit the market way back.
He grabbed a little gear, and his girlfriend, and went off to go camping.
Summertime, fortunately. No sleeping bags, he told her that he had heard these things work and would keep themj warm. only 2 spaceblankets.
They froze their asses off.
Of course, they went to higher elevations, were only dressed for summer walks, and when temps went down to low 60s high 50s that night, they froze their butts off. Also they stayed awake most of the night due to the crinkly sound of the space blankets everytime someone moved.
Space blankets can help keep you Alive, but they aren't going to do it alone.
With proper clothing, and maybe a debris hut, tarp or whatever, you add the space blanket as your personal outer layer and it will help, no doubt. They are designed to keep you ALIVE by refelcting any personal heat you are radiating.
Try not to rely solely on the Space blanket. Help the Space Blanket, and it can help you.
A Teepee.
Teepees don't get a lot of notoriety, but, if you have a decent sized tarp, or two ponchos, you can put up a makeshift teepee in 1/10th the time it takes to make a debris hut. Minimum of 5 or 6 sticks, anywhere from 6 to 8 feet long, allow them to intersect up high, lash them at the top, press them into the ground, and wrap your tarp around like an upside down funnel. Lay some sticks on the outside to hold the tarp in place. If you leave a vent hole, you can have a small personal fire, right there with you. Teepee walls have very steep angles, thus, shed water very well.
You will have to keep the base area to a modest size, unless you are carrying lots of tarp material. You can maximize the height by tarping the higher area, and using debris down low to finish around the base. The survival teepee will be pretty small, and you may have to sleep in a seated position, or curled up, but, thats what you give in trade for the expediancy in set up.
Lean To. A picture is worth 1000 words. This guy is chillin in his Lean To crib. http://www.swansea.gov.uk/media/images/3/9/lean_too_lying_shot_50_.jpg Typically fire is reflected into the Lean To by using rocks or a stack of wood, as pictured. here is another link showing the skeleton frame and reflective wall. http://www.scoutingresources.org.uk/images/pioneering_shelter07.jpg
Downside is , you are more exposed to open air. I think of summer time temps, or southern lattitudes when I think of a Lean To shelter. A lean to can be pretty expediant, and can be situated to block wind. Typically they are used in conjunction with fire, going back again, to Docs point about fire and Shelter being closely linked.
Back to the basic concern of exposure. Think insulation. Dead air space makes good insulation. A pile of leaves, stacks of evergreen boughs, whatever you can find to trap air, and cut down on air flow from the outside world.
Sleeping in a big pile of leaves is better than fully exposed, check for spiders and varmints first, please. You can make a "wilderness rake" to help gather piles of leaves. find some tree limbs that branch into 3 or 4 sections.
Cut two of them about 6 to 7 feet long and lash them together, slice off the smaller branches even, and you have a makeshift 6 or 8 prong rake. It beats bending over and sweeping leaves with your hands. the leaves are gonig to come in handy for bedding, debris walls, and all around shelter insulation.
STAYING OFF THE COLD GROUND
Anyone who has even slept on a tent floor, without a barrier, knows the ground will suck heat from your body like a Hoover Vac. Simply put, build a nest! Leaves, Pine boughs, tall grasses, reeds, anything to give yourself some insulation from the cold ground. the positive side effect is also a little comfort. Don't deny yourself comfort wherever you can find it, there isn't much to go around in this type of situation, so, take it when you can get it.
Well, that's what I have in my head at the moment, hope it helps someone, somewhere, if only to remind them of examples and the importance of shelter.
Please add any thoughts, hints, tricks, alternate Shelters, or expand on anything contained within. thanks.
This is the Shelter thread. enjoy!!
rectangle for sitting or lying on the ground. It is long enough to go from my hips to my shoulders. Other items from the inside the pack can be used for a pillow and the empty pack can go under my legs, or I can put my feet inside it for extra warmth. The foam serves other purposes as well. It makes for superb waterproof tinder. Thin slices a couple inches long burn for a few minutes. The foam can be used to splint fractures, or at least pad under a stiffer splint. Surely there are other uses as well. It is a clever idea that saves weight, adds comfort, and provides padding and insulation for an unexpected night out in the snow. I picked it up somewhere a while back from some climbing book, or climbing magazine, and I highly suggest it to anyone who has a removable frame sheet in their day pack. This is an excellent example of using gear you carry anyway unconventionally in a emergency, rather than carrying something separate that can only be used in a emergency.
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