Shelter If Lost

What I teach here is to find a natural shelter in a "microclimate" as Ron Hood puts it. In my area this would be a rock face or an overhang out of the wind on a north facing slope out of the cold airflow that comes down off the mountains. This in itself will get you out of the wind and rain and can then be improved with natural materials or resources that you carry.

I carry, in addition to my bivy and poncho, a clear plastic 2x3 meter droploth and plenty of duct tape. Such an item is worth its weight in gold when constructing an emergency shelter. It will save loads of time and result in a waterproof roof over your head.

A larger enclosed shelter would be a viable option in a very cold climate as long as you had a heat source other than body heat. That means you have to be able to move your fire inside and have an outlet for the smoke. The lean-to relies on reflected heat from a fire. A total enclosure will do that as well as trap warm air and your smoke as well.

One of the keys in the situation you describe is that your clothing must be able to dry. A well made debris shelter will be little use to someone soaked to the skin. A lean-to is the better option in such a situation as it will allow you to get dry. Your first line of insulation is your clothes, a shelter just takes the pressure off of them allowing your clothes to insulate you in better conditions (ie above freezing as opposed to below). If you are wet that won't happen and you will go hypothermic. Could you lie out damp in 40 degree weather? I couldn't, and that is a pretty optomistic result of a well made debris shelter in cold weather. If you are dry and dressed for winter then lying still in 40 degree air is doable.

I would start with a lean-to and then close it off as much as possible to cut out drafts, insulate the floor very thick, site the fire well with a reflector behind it. If that doesn't get you through the week you are in serious trouble. Mac
 
pict said:
What I teach here is to find a natural shelter in a "microclimate" as Ron Hood puts it. In my area this would be a rock face or an overhang out of the wind on a north facing slope out of the cold airflow that comes down off the mountains. This in itself will get you out of the wind and rain and can then be improved with natural materials or resources that you carry. Mac
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I'm assuming that's because you're in Brazil and not in the USA?

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
I'm assuming that's because you're in Brazil and not in the USA?

Doc
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Took the words right out of my mouth, Doc.

In this scenario.. "Having already established emergency shelter and a food and water source" you've moved from SURVIVAL to THRIVIVAL... when you start making a longterm, permanent shelter... just be carefull that your efforts dont place you into the SURVIVAL category again.

Learn the ways of living with nature. You'll find that those survival situations soon become a convenient excuse to sit by a fire and relax.

I sometimes think of the "bush parties" we had in the highschool days... We'd get out there around 2-3pm and start drinking beer(alcohol.. the big hydration no-no) With the bonfire raging, we'd eventually wander off and pass out in the field. You'd wake up with a headache around 11am the next day and wander back to the fire. Almost 24hrs with no food, shelter and only beer to drink.... hmmm... it's amazing that I survived those days... I recall atleast a dozen of those parties.

SURVIVAL IS RELATIVE.... didn't somebody smart say that once?

Rick
 
Doc,

Yes, things are a little different here south of the equator. The sun still rises in the east and sets in the west but it travels through the northern sky at mid-day. Up there it is the south facing slope that gets the most sun. It really messes with your sense of direction when you first get here.

One consideration for emergency shelter, especially long term ones is visibility. If you stop to think about it a shelter made from natural materials has all the characteristics of a good blind. The last thing you want to do is get yourself snugged down in some nice sheltered place, roof it over with camoflage and then challenge the good people of SAR to find you.

Make sure you have some signal visible that will attract attention if rescue is in the game plan. Mac
 
hollowdweller said:
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:
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Just be terrified to go to sleep!
 
Cuchuga said:
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.
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The priority which is always forgotten is signaling. Tromp out large distress signals in fields or snow. Move rocks or dead trees. Or maybe burn a signal into the field. Make obvious signs of distress from any obvious search/sign cutting areas (roads, trails, streams) to the shelter, because the shelter may not be down on the river bank. Have signal fires ready. Have a fire burning all the time if possible. Etc.

Imagine the scenario from "The Edge". When your only hope of rescue flies over, do you want to be:

1. Attempting to catch a chipmunk, or building a family room on your shelter?

2. Lighting a signal fire? Signaling with a mirror?

3. Packing your bags because you know the rescue bird will see the huge tromped/burnt/arranged rock or brush distress signals in that field (in which Alec Baldwin had the meltdown as the helicopter flew away) ?

4. Both 2 and 3?

The shelter should always be a work in progress, the more insulation the better, maybe add a big reflector and a stone "hearth" to hold the heat, but don't forget signaling. If you aren't hurt and you have the time, they should be able to see your distress signals from space! Just my .02

EDIT- you mention food/fire/water. Those aren't the right priorities. I only say this because so many people consider food a priority. The priority is probably shelter/fire, water, signalling, then eventually food. Food is a distant last. You can last for 4-6 weeks with absolutely no food.
 
I totaly agree, Nemo... aside from the priorities... and even then I'm not disagreeing but rather adding that the priorities often change with the weather and your surroundings. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, swamps, forests and mountains all pose different threats to survival.

Rick
 
I just pulled out some of the basic necessities. I didnt really put them in order of importance nor did I include them all.

This is good advice, thanks guys. Before this thread If I was stranded I probably would be chasing a chipmunk and adding indoor plumbing while a rescue chopper flies overhead.

Thanks again,

-Cuchuga
 
My favorite "expedient" shelter was created in near darkness. I found myself near a growth of river cane and bent the canes into a rough dome shape then covered them with two ponchos leaving a coffee can size hole in the center of the covering. I built a very small fire in the middle of the floor and slept warm and snug on a rainy night. You could do the same with four or six small saplings and not even need to cut them as I didn't cut the canes, but twisted them around each other to make the hoops. No cordage needed either.

Codger
 
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