Shelter If Lost

C

Cuchuga

Joined
Oct 11, 2007
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Suppose someone was lost in lets say Ontario and decided to stay put rather than move. Instead of making a flimsy temporary shelter would it be worth it(after you got food/fire/water settled for a few days) to make a more substantial shelter. What I am thinking of here is a primitive "hut". Like find 4 trees that form a square and get sticks to lash on the outside forming a square(walls).Then to use a tarp or something as a roof. Would this be a waste of time or worth it? I thought about this while bored at school.

Thanks,

Cuchuga
 
Probably the bigger you build it the more of your body heat gets lost.
 
I think a basic lean-to with walled in sides is a great shelter as fiddle back mentioned you don't want too much room in side....than you can build a reflectin wall on the opposite side of the fire and reflect some of the heat back into the shelter.... I'm headin out for 2 days in upstate ny next week temp should be in the mid 20's at night that's what I plan on sleeoing in...
 
It would all depend on the location, time of the year etc.
Give us some more details and maybe we could then give more recommendations !
 
RescueRiley said:
I think a basic lean-to with walled in sides is a great shelter as fiddle back mentioned you don't want too much room in side....than you can build a reflectin wall on the opposite side of the fire and reflect some of the heat back into the shelter.... I'm headin out for 2 days in upstate ny next week temp should be in the mid 20's at night that's what I plan on sleeoing in...
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Thats as good a game plan as any. If I were stuck out someplace I'd make up a shelter with those guide lines. One thing overlooked for a daypack is one of those plastic disposable drop cloths they sell in the paint department of Walmart. You get about a 10 foot square of clear plastic in a size about what a medium paper back novel is. Very compact and light weight. It will make a totally water proof covering for a lean-to in an emergency. If you make the shelter small, a low reflector will keep it pretty nice on a cold night.
 
Yeah you guys are right. It never occurred to me to wall in a lean-to. Thats a good idea.

Jack- Are you talking about using the plastic to cover the floor?
 
pitdog said:
It would all depend on the location, time of the year etc.
Give us some more details and maybe we could then give more recommendations !
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Pitdog's right - it depends on a lot of factors. The basic calculation is whether you will save more calories (from being better protected from the elements) then the calories you lose in constructing the shelter. So it depends on your location, the weather, how close at hand building materials are, whether you have tools to make collecting material efficient, how long you'll be there, etc.
Survival is very much a game of calorie counting - if you grow a deficit of calories that's too large, you lose. Before a storm deer move around a lot - they're out and about trying to snatch up a few more calories by feeding before they bed down in a protected area to conserve those calories and wait out the storm. The great revolution of we humans is that we learned how to burn things - we can access an almost unlimited number of calories with the use of fire. We are no longer restricted to obtaining calories by feeding.
Ok 'nuff said - I'm starting to ramble...
 
I usually make my lean-tos small enough so that half of my plastic sheat is the floor and the other half is the roof... I'm talkin like 2 ft from the ground just enough to lie down in..
 
This is hard to explain but here goes.

Its hard to give details because I just thought up the idea and don't know if it would be a good or bad thing to try. I don't have a scenario in my mind of a time when I would need it so giving details would just be made up stuff. I was just wondering if it would possibly be worth it. It seems the lean-to would be a better plan, going by the responses so far.

Does that even make sense? Haha, I'm at a loss for words here. Sorry for the horrible explanation of myself.
 
I would say that if you know you are going to be stuck in one place for decent length of time, in some instances a small hut could be much more comfertable to live in then a lean to. Wattle and dawb or something, earth seems to be a pretty good insulater.
 
It never hurts to get some nice, dry, "fluffy", foliage to use as the floor for your shelter, after you've planned out your basic perimeter.

If this situation happens soon, snow may come into play; bringing with it both it's own unique advantages and disadvantages. (Just some food for thought).

Also make sure to use nature to your advantage ie.making one wall of your shelter by using a large diameter, previously fallen tree. A small stand of woody-type bushes would also help to slow down the wind from robbing you of the heat you create naturally.

ICEMAN1968
 
I think you would be much better off constantly improving your lean to. I personally think that gives you the most bang for your effort buck. Always improve your shelter with more insulation, better rain/wind resistance, better reflector for your fire, etc. I don't think making it bigger (room like) is the correct thing to do.

Just my $.02,
KR
 
Cuchuga said:
Yeah you guys are right. It never occurred to me to wall in a lean-to. Thats a good idea.

Jack- Are you talking about using the plastic to cover the floor?
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No, I mean to use 2/3 of the plastic for the top and the rest as a waterproof floor. Then you use brush and wattle to wall up the sides. With a reflector on the far side of the fire, it can be comfy. You can even wall up part of the opening.
 
That was pretty cool. But, a debris hut is flamable as hell. Especially here in GA (no rain for ever). And also, to get it waterproof there has to be a LOT of debree over the whole thing. In Boy Scouts, we put 3' of debris on the hut. It rained all weekend, and I was 'pretty dry'. His had a LOT more wallspace to cover.
 
In cold areas the best way to improve your sleeping shelter is to add more insulation, rather than to make the inside larger. If you are bored you could add some sitting around shelter. You could make a shelter around your sleeping alcove or make a sheltered entryway. It is a great thing to improve your path in and out of your shelter so you don't track in debris.
 
Fiddleback said:
That was pretty cool. But, a debris hut is flamable as hell. Especially here in GA (no rain for ever). And also, to get it waterproof there has to be a LOT of debree over the whole thing. In Boy Scouts, we put 3' of debris on the hut. It rained all weekend, and I was 'pretty dry'. His had a LOT more wallspace to cover.
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FB,

You always see folks building them and then a Fire in front (or inside in this case) but yeah, I'd be afraid of setting it on fire with the fire THIS summer:eek:
 
Something like this?

large-log-house1.jpg


Seriously, the debris shelters like the Ray Mears example will get you through the first critical hours, giving you time to find food, water, etc.
 
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