shelter building materials

[1066vik]

Curious to see/hear what folks use to build shelters in the different parts of the country.
I live in primarily shortgrass (mostly under 6' tall) prairie, so don't have access to large leaf trees for that style of debris shelter and I'm far enough south I don't get enough snow for a quinzee or snow trench very often.
OTOH, junjiper and brown cedar are considered weeds around here, so I build my shelter frame & bed out of the branches, then cover with grass or cattail.
(for Becker content, I can assure you the Patrol Machete does a good job of harvesting these materials)

How about you guys - favorite materials?

 

[wildmanh]

1066Vik, I love this topic! Thanks for bringing it up. I think this thread could be a valuable resource for people coming to a given area. It lets them know what are good things to know for that enviroment. Also I think I'll try to keep a log of what I use where when I'm camping and practicing here in Utah so others may benifit from what I learn.

Here in Utah I use a variety of different materials depending on where I am. Valleys/mountain valleys I use grass to cover the shelters. Grass is easiest to come by since most of our valleys are prairie like. When I was in High school I practiced thatched grass shelters in my back yard.

In the mountains and foothills where trees are more prevelant, I'll use pine/juniper needles or bowes to cover the shelter. Though I have recently started playing around with using leaves from cottonwoods, Aspen, Elm, Box elder and Maple which are the 5 most common trees around here.

Willow and Box Elder branches are IMO great to use for the shelters frame. They grow long, slender and when green are very easy to form to the shape you want/need. Plus We had tons growning up so thats what I've used the most. I've used almost as many ever green bowes as Box Elder, but the evergreens don't form as easally as the others. A good knife and or small saw and Jute twine greatly help in shelter building. In High School my tools were an old Shrade Liner or Lock back, LEatherman mini, a Corona folding saw, Old Hickory Chefs knife and jute or bailing twine. Now adays I carry a Becker BK9 and or a Khukri/Machete and SOG powerlock + jute twine.

Again, great topic. Hoping we see some pictures here.

 

[paperairplane]

Eastern woodlands here - if it's old woods you will get lots of hardwoods - oak, hickory, sugar maple, etc. Younger woods have wild cherry and sumac, grapevine. Locally there seems to be a lot of poplar / sycamore. There's also a good amount of pine forest here.