How to Build a Wilderness Shelter

1. How to Build a Wilderness Shelter Tiffany Keith Eng 334 Professor Manthey March 22, 2009

2. Introduction If you found yourself lost in the wilderness without any shelter and no tools would you be able to survive? The purpose of these instructions are to educate the novice outdoorsman (or woman) on how to build a wilderness shelter to protect against the elements and increase one’s chances of survival. Note: This information is intended for adult use. Any child under the age of 12 may encounter difficulty following these instructions.

3. Overview These instructions will educate the reader on how to build a basic lean-to shelter. The lean-to is the most popular and easiest shelter for beginners to learn. It can be made from a tarp, emergency blanket, poncho, or many other materials. These particular directions involve using only materials found in the natural environment to build a lean-to shelter.

4. Steps • Find a suitable location • Gather materials • Form the brace of the shelter • Construct the roof frame • Fill in the roof frame with debris • Construct the side frames and fill with debris

5. Step 1: Find a Suitable Location for the Shelter • Select a good spot for the shelter • It should be in a fringe area: neither in a field or in a dense thicket but somewhere in-between. • Look for two straight trees growing approximately five to seven feet apart to tie your brace to. • Try to build the shelter at a distance of fifty yards or more from a body of water. Evaporating water will add an extra chill to the air. Warning: Hypothermia can occur when the human body is exposed to the cold resulting in organ failure and death.

6. Step 2: Gather Materials Materials Needed • Natural ties – i.e. vines, tall grass, small roots, or small branches • One large branch for a brace • Several long branches for the roof • Several short branches for the sides • Leaves, grass, pine needles, ferns or whatever debris nature makes available to cover your structure with Warning: Be cautious while gathering debris as snakes and bugs like to hide under this type of material. Note: If you have a pocket or survival knife on your person it will make gathering materials easier, but it is not necessary.

7. Example of vines found in nature that could be used for ties

8. Step 3: Form the brace of the shelter • Tie the large branch to the two straight trees using the natural ties. • The branch should be tied to the trees three to four feet off the ground. • Make sure the branch is tied securely. If the brace of the shelter falls then the roof will cave in and all of your hard work is wasted.

9. Brace of Lean-To Shelter

10. Step 4: Construct the roof frame • Take the long branches gathered for the roof and lay them across the brace at a 45 degree angle or smaller. Note: At this time it is wise to crawl beneath the shelter to make sure you have enough room. • If you have some ties left you can tie some of the long branches to the brace to make it more secure. • Make sure to place the branches close together to avoid debris falling through the roof.

11. Roof Frame Construction

12. Step 5: Fill in the roof frame with debris • Take the debris you gathered (leaves, ferns, twigs, etc) and spread it over the top of the roof frame. • Tip: You can add smaller sticks on top of your debris to keep it from blowing away.

13. Step 6: Construct the side frames and fill with debris • Take the shorter branches and lay them against the sides of the shelter to form the side frame. • Fill the side frames with debris. *This step will minimize the wind draft and offer further protection from environmental threats.*

14. Your Wilderness Shelter is Complete!