Emergency Shelter, Part One©

 

Author’s note -- I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

Last week we talked about what you would do if you found yourself on an open hillside, miles from your base camp, with a storm to your west, heading your way and it’s already started to rain.

 

Sheltering with Choice ‘B’

Ok, you’ve opted for choice ‘B’, the most correct answer according to the Airforce survival specialists at Fairchild AFB, so, and you’ve found a site that’s large enough and level enough for you to comfortably lie down, with available materials nearby for constructing a shelter.  But how do you build a shelter?

 

Before deciding a spot to build, make sure there are no dangers such as dead trees, or large hanging branches, known as “widowmakers”, which can blow down and crush you.  Also don’t build near streams, which can flood and drown you. 

 

The easiest and fastest shelter, other than a rock overhang or cave, is a is a natural lean-to, which is also known as a “fallen tree shelter”, an “A-frame” or a “debris hut”.  This is a simple survival shelter that requires no cordage and uses existing natural structures to provide immediate protection from the elements. 

 

Many times you can find a tree which is half broken and bent over and often the tree is still attached to its stump by a “hinge” of bent wood and is less likely to collapse.  If so, the trunk can become the “ridgepole” of your shelter, saving you time and the effort of finding and moving heavy logs.  You can also create your own hinged ridgepole by girdling a small conifer with a knife or axe and pushing it over.

 

If you cannot find a pre-made “ridgepole” attached to a stump, or don’t have the tools to girdle a small conifer, then wedge or lean big, long branch against a tree, or stump as the ridgepole of your shelter. 

 

This type of shelter can also be built as a lean-to, against a large fallen log, the root ball of a blown down tree or even a large boulder.  Build your shelter so that the closed side of the shelter is perpendicular to the prevailing wind.

 

Remove any rocks, damp debris, or sharp branches from the area directly underneath the trunk, or besides the trunk, depending on whether you are building an A-frame or a lean-to.  The floorplan of your shelter should be no wider than six inches, 15 cm, from either shoulder, and no more than four inches, 10 cm, from your head or feet.

 

“Build low”, your shelter should be about two feet, or 60 cm, high at its highest point, just big enough for you to be able to lie down inside.  This keeps your body heat close to you and prevents cold air from getting into your shelter, remember your shelter is just an all-natural sleeping bag, that you must warm with your body heat. 

 

Next “insulate, insulate, insulate”.  Your clothing is your first layer of insulation and protection from the wind and the elements.  Remember to remove layers if you start to sweat, because sweating leads to hypothermia, which leads to death!  

 

Your second layer of insulation is a layer of debris on the ground.  Build a mat or “sleeping pad” of dry leaves, pine needles, or grass at least four to six inches thick, 10 to 15 cm between you and the ground.  This prevents the ground from sucking the heat out of your body by conduction.

 

Your third layer of insulation is the roof of your shelter.  Survival experts recommend at least three to four feet, or about 1 meter, of insulation between you and the elements, but more is always better, if you have the time. 

 

Lean smaller sticks as “rafters” against ridgepole close together.  Make sure the ends of the rafters don’t stick out too far over the ridgepole, or they will funnel rain or melt water into your shelter.  Then add evergreen branches, or moss on top of the sticks, working from the bottom up, overlapping them like shingles on a roof to shed rain.  Pile them on, until you can’t see through the roof from inside your shelter.  Lastly add leaves, other debris, or during the winter, snow, to seal it all off.

 

Survival Pro Tip:  If you build a small fire, keep it outside the entrance and build a reflector made of logs or stones to bounce heat into the shelter.  Be extremely careful with fire near dry brush or pine boughs!

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Emergency Shelter, Part Two©”, where we will talk about how to shelter in an overhang or rock shelter.

 

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

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

 

Sources

 

Airforce Survival School, Fairchild AFB; “Could You Survive”, Spokane Daily Chronicle, September  13, 1977, page 22, https://books.google.com/books?id=__lLAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA12&dq=%22could+you+survive%22&article_id=3746,2800258&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqisikv6eTAxU1mokEHfm0NbUQ6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=%22could%20you%20survive%22&f=false, accessed March 28, 2026

 

Morning, Heather; “Hypothermia, And How Not To Get It”, February 17, 2015, https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/skills/hypothermia_and_how_not_to_get_it-7091, accessed April 4, 2026

 

Province of Alberta; “Winter survival in the backcountry”, https://www.albertaparks.ca/media/2161491/2008_winter_survival.pdf, accessed April 4, 2026

 

Undepend; “How to build a natural shelter”, [© Undepend.com], https://undepend.com/how-to/build-a-natural-shelter/, accessed April 4, 2026