Fallen Trees, an Emergency Shelter ©

 

 

A partially blown-down tree, photograph by the Author.

Have you ever been out in the wilderness and got caught by a sudden storm?  You must get out of the wind and the weather, now!  Or maybe, you’re “misplaced”, it’s two hours to dark and too late to try to walk-out.  You need shelter for the night! 

 

But, since you weren’t planning on staying out overnight, you didn’t bring a tent with you, so now what?

 

An excerpt from United States Department of Agriculture, “What to Do When Lost in the Woods”, 1946.

Maybe you’ll get lucky and you’ll find a rock shelter (for more on rock shelters go HERE, HERE and HERE).  Or maybe you will find a large rock that you can use as a wind break.  But if you are in the woods, you are more likely to find a blown-down tree, and they can make a great emergency shelter from the wind and the weather.

 

Something to remember, and something that I didn’t know about before I started this article, is that sometimes, under the right circumstances, fallen trees can spring back upright, crushing and burying anything under them like a giant deadfall!  Yikes! 

 

The good news, according to an article by Yasmin Jeffery who quotes arborist Kurt Brown, is that most fallen trees, fall and stay fallen, however as many as one out of ten trees could spring back upright.  Okay, so 90% of fallen trees stay down, once they are down, that’s reassuring, but why do the other 10% spring back upright?

 

According to Jeffery, who wrote “Fallen trees could be more dangerous than you think.  Here's why”, severe storms and weather can alter the soil structure around the tree’s roots, making it weak, this soil weakness combined with high winds can cause the root plate to lift up and then fail.  “Once that’s done, the tree root’s still normally connected on one side, and therefore there is still a lot of pressure”, stated Benjamin Inman, an arboriculture consultant.  He continued by saying, “For a tree to spring back, there would have to be a lot of tension or compression forcing it back into position”.  Additionally, Inman noted that wind could be the trigger which allows the fallen tree to stand back up.  Another arborist, Kurt Brown noted that trees can flip back upright after storms if they have fallen on top of each other, because of the flexing of the timber¹. 

 

So, before you decide to select a certain fallen tree as a potential shelter site, make sure that it is fully fallen and truly down. 

 

A partially fallen-down tree, leaning uphill against its neighbor, with the opening facing downhill and northeast, photograph by the Author.

The partially fallen down tree in the picture above might not be the best emergency shelter to be found, even though at first glance it looks like a great shelter.  It is possible, if the winds were right, that the trunk could be blown back upright, especially since it would get a downhill gravity assist.  I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to be under that tree if the wind was blowing hard from the southwest.

 

A fully fallen tree, with the trunk laying on the ground and pointing downhill, facing northeast, photograph by the Author.

The blown down tree above, might be a lot safer.  It is completely down and the trunk, which is on the ground, is pointing downhill.  It will be extremely hard for this tree to spring back up, against gravity, into an upright position.

 

“OK, besides making sure that the tree is truly down, what should I look for?” and “How do I stay warm?”, you might ask.  Those are both good questions, so let me answer them, starting with the first one. 

 

An excerpt from The Woodsman’s Journal Online Field Guide, by the Author.

 

The first of the 5W’s is wind and besides storm winds, there are prevailing, offshore/onshore and valley winds. 

 

Prevailing winds are winds that blow predominantly from one direction during a particular season or in a particular place.  Prevailing winds are not constant all day long, as Alan Innes-Taylor noted in the Arctic Survival Guide, “Fair weather winds usually decrease at night”.  Usually, in much of northeast Canada and the United States, fair weather winds blow from the northwest to the southeast during the day. 

 

An excerpt from Weather, by the Boy Scouts of America, page 9.

Offshore/onshore and valley winds are created by the daily warming and cooling of the land.  During the day, the land warms faster than water and higher elevations warm faster than lower elevations, so during the day warmer air rises over the land pulling the cooler air over the water ashore in an onshore or sea breeze².  The warmer air above ridge tops and hills rises and pulls the cooler valley air upslope and up-valley.

 

At night the process reverses, and the land cools faster than the water; the rising warm air over the water pulls the cooler air over the land away from the shore as an offshore or land breeze.  Also, at night, the air above mountain slopes and hills cools faster than the valley air and the warmer valley air rises and pulls the cooler hilltop air downslope and down-valley.

 

An excerpt from the Arctic Survival Guide, Alan Innes-Taylor, page 53.

So, what does all this mean?  The fallen tree that you have decided to shelter by for the night, should face downhill and across the valley or, it should be at right angles to the prevailing winds.  Which in northeast Canada and the United States, means that the fallen tree should face northeast, that way the prevailing winds from the northwest or the southeast will be at right angles to the fallen tree shelter.  The reason your shelter should face downhill is to protect you from nighttime valley winds and by facing at a right angle to the prevailing winds, smoke from your fire will be blown away from you. 

 

Additionally, if you are sheltering by a blown-down tree that is at a right angle to the prevailing winds, you should also build a windbreak to further protect you (for more on windbreaks, read “...Seeking Shelter Against the Wind©”, HERE).

 

Thermal belts, drawn by the author.

 

It is usually better to look for a shelter partway up a hillside, because streams, valleys and low areas can flood, sometimes with little warning if there is a storm upstream of you.  Also, a shelter halfway between the summit of the hill and the valley bottom is often significantly warmer than a spot in the valley or on the hill-top since cold air at night collects in low spots and valleys and the summits of hills are always cold. 

 

A widow maker hanging in an oak tree, photograph by the Author.

Also always look up and around your shelter site and make sure there a no dead trees, snags or other widow-makers stuck in the branches above you, just waiting for the right wind to come crashing down. 

 

Another hazard that you have look out for with fallen trees, is rocks and boulders that are caught up in the root ball.  If they are loose, they could fall on you while you sleep.  If the fallen tree that you are considering as a shelter has a lot of boulders and large rocks caught up in the roots, it might be safer to find a different fallen tree.

 

And lastly, don’t shelter under or near the tallest tree in the forest, it is a lightning rod!  If possible, shelter in a grove of equal sized trees.  Also avoid hill-tops and exposed cliff faces which can attract lightening.

 

Any shelter that you find in the wilderness is valuable real estate, so always check for inhabitants.  Study the inside of the shelter carefully and look and listen for wild cats, bears, bats, rodents of all types, snakes, wasps, or insects, before you go inside.  In the spring and summer listen for the sounds of young animals.  During the fall and winter, beware of denning or hibernating animals, because according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, bears will den in cavities dug under fallen tree roots³.

 

The last of the 5 W’s is wood, the shelter that you choose should have plenty of firewood nearby, because it takes a lot of wood at night to keep a shelter warm.

 

Emerson Hough, writing in 1915, had this to say about firewood when you’re caught out in the woods at night, “Get behind some windbreak and have plenty of wood for your fire.”  He also said that you should, “Always have some wood close at hand to throw on the fire should you wake up chilled and shivering.” And “When in doubt get some more wood, for it will certainly take a lot”⁴.

 

For more on the 5W’s, read “Woodcraft 101: Putting Up A Tent ©”, HERE.

 

An excerpt from Handbook For Boys, by the Boy Scouts of America, June 1953, page 157.

 

Ok you have found the perfect fallen tree, it is truly down, it is facing downhill or at a right angle to the prevailing winds, it is halfway up a hill, uninhabited, free of stones and window-makers and near a plentiful source of firewood, so now how do you keep yourself warm?

 

An illustration from “But If You Do Get Lost”, Outdoors USA: 1967, by Kenneth M. Cole, page 91, show the “misplaced” person sitting between the fire and the backwall of the shelter.

 

Reflector... Fire... You... The backwall of the shelter, graphic by the Author.

With any survival shelter, you should always sit between your fire and the back wall of the shelter, and you should always build a reflector.  If you put the fire between you and the backwall, your back will be cold.  Instead, sit between your fire and the backwall of the shelter, that way the heat from your fire will reflect off the backwall, warming up your back as well as your front. 

 

An excerpt from Arctic Survival Guide, by Alan Innes-Taylor, page 62.

Not only will a reflector, reflect heat back into your shelter, but it will also help to channel the smoke upwards and away from you. 

 

Always keep your fire small and sit close to it, photograph by the Author.

And remember, always keep your fire small and sit close to it.  A big hot bonfire just wastes wood, and you can’t sit near it. 

 

You lose a great deal of heat to the cold, cold ground, and heat conduction and that is why you need to make an emergency ground bed.  Ground beds are also called bough beds, bush beds or browse beds and are used to insulate you from that heat robbing ground. 

 

You can use anything to make a bough bed if it is fine at the tips and no thicker than your thumb at the stem, some other materials are things like branches with or without leaves, cattails, golden-rod stems, ferns, clover, or grasses.  Make sure that they are dry, by shaking off any moisture or snow before putting them into your bough bed.

 

In a survival situation use the Mors Kochanski bough bed method, by laying the branches in a chevron pattern with the boughs making an angle close to 90^o.  First put bare branches or saplings bigger than your thumb on the ground first, and then put the smaller branches in a chevron on top of them.  As you cut off the branches from the base of the trunk to the crown, lay the bottom branches down first, then lay the middle branches down next and finally place the top branches down last.

 

Lay the branches in a chevron pattern, graphic by the Author.

Lay bare branches or saplings on the ground first, graphic by the Author.

For more on bough beds read “Making an Emergency Bough Bed ©”, HERE.

 

An emergency trash bag shelter, photograph by the Author.

And finally, if you were smart, you remembered to put one or two large, contractor grade trash bags into your pack or pocket before you set out and now you can make an emergency trash bag shelter to help protect you from the wind.  For more on emergency trash bag shelters, read “Using your poncho or a trash bag as an Emergency Shelter ©”, HERE.

 

I hope that you are never caught out overnight in the woods, but if you are, I hope that you remember these tips and remember that you can use that fallen tree to stay safe and warm.

 

Using a fallen tree to stay safe and warm, photograph by the Author.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read ““What to do When Lost In The Woods, 1946 ©”, where we will talk about how survival principals are timeless and never change.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ All from “Fallen trees could be more dangerous than you think.  Here's why”, by Yasmin Jeffery.

 

² Additionally, onshore breezes seldom penetrate far inland, but they are usually stronger than offshore breezes. 

 

³ Bears den in an assortment of places, besides cavities dug under fallen tree roots, like rock crevices, hollow trees, and under, brush piles.

 

From NYSDEC, May 13, 2020,

 

⁴ Additionally, Emerson Hough, wrote that to sleep warm if you are caught out in the woods at night, that you should “If it is very cold build a fire; then rake it away and lie on the warmed ground.”  In addition, the author wrote “You can build two smaller fires, and so keep warm on both sides.”

 

 

Sources

 

Innes-Taylor, Alan; Arctic Survival Guide, Scandinavian Airlines Systems, Stockholm, Sweden, 1961], page 54-58

 

Boy Scouts of America, Handbook For Boys, [Boy Scouts of America, New York, New York, June 1953], page 157

 

Boy Scouts of America; Weather, [Boy Scouts Of America, Irving, TX; 1992], page 9

 

Hough, Emerson; Out Of Doors, (D. Appleton and Company, New York, New York [1915]) p. 269 - 282, reprinted in https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadnZNQ1xrsbkS3T4VJlC_uZQ8t4yj2UNH5POGbNio-1SDyFM8TAqUfl7ciDY5CuNZxvnnE0Pcxf1j6Thu_zOs5kz8rgR9MOtsbTxVgRVa3bwaKo0-D5YX2T4JaBO_z6G8vgwFNgLiJ9XCfBVnn9K4qR7ZFa0faNe3zmvfWDfmEo049sqXQlw697XIHDWNblRJj9niiabZoBB7aQHl82tf4y03cpU2hMdLVADF-7P2pvJKsZbLDnJN8ncLZ9IftMudapmn8E, (accessed 11/8/18)

 

Jeffery, Yasmin; “Fallen trees could be more dangerous than you think.  Here's why”, ABC News Australia, March 26, 2019, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-26/what-causes-fallen-trees-to-spring-back-up-after-storm/10942124, accessed February 9, 2021

 

NYSDEC, May 13, 2020, https://twitter.com/NYSDEC/status/1260664168732123136, accessed February 10, 2021

 

United States Department of Agriculture, “What to Do When Lost in the Woods”, 1946, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5435268.pdf, accessed January 25, 2021

 

United States Department of Agriculture, Outdoors USA: 1967 Yearbook of Agriculture, [United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1967], p 87-89, https://archive.org/details/yoa1967/page/n3, accessed 11/02/2019